Tootsie Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: Tootsie
Year: 1982
Director: Sydney Pollack
Country: US
Language: English

Most people in North America have seen Mrs. Doubtfire, a family comedy about a dad who wears drag and becomes a British Nanny in order to spend time with his kids. Though it is beloved, it pales in comparison to Tootsie. Sydney Pollack's film works beyond the gimmick of Dustin Hoffman in drag and becomes an intelligent story with great social commentary regarding gender norms in the 1980's.

Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) is an unemployed actor with an impossible reputation. In order to find work and fund his friend's play he dresses as a woman, Dorothy Michaels, and lands the part in a daytime drama. He loses himself in the woman's role and life slowly becomes topsy turvey.

Tootsie is a fine mix of absurdity and seriousness, of laughs and tears. Hoffman in drag was a risky experiment, but it proved to work quite well. He's actually quite plausible as Dorothy; looking like a middle aged woman with a squeaky southern accent, which helps avoid difficulties with voicing. It's easy to understand why Dorothy would become a female role model; she is tender, yet strong and doesn't let men push her around.

The role is not without complications, which allows the film to have many "fish out of water" slapstick jokes,  but Dorothy gradually wins your admiration. Tootsie's realistic views regarding the double standards of that time were innovative. Indeed a lot of the writing for women in television was "a lot of horseshit", mainly because the producers of television shows were men and thus had a man's view of the world. Sexual misconduct towards women was, and still is, a huge problem in the workplace.

In conclusion, I admire the fact that Tootsie did not hit any standard Hollywood cliches nor devolve into a mess that berated women. Rather it stood up for the underdog and exposed sexism in the workplace. I would certainly recommend watching it more than a few times. Praise it! 5/5