# 69: Tootsie

Heh heh 69..... Anyways today I will be reviewing Tootsie.  Tootsie is a 1982 comedy starring Dustin Hoffman who dresses up as a women to get a role on a soap opera.  I was nervous about this movie for two reasons.First, this movie is about a man who dresses up as a women to get a job.  Sounds like it be okay but then I saw this:

If the movie was going to be anything like this I was going to hate it.  Secondly, not all comedies from the 70s and early 80s are that funny to me.  My parents would rave about how funny Fast Times at Ridgemont High was, then I watched it.... not so funny.  So these two factors made me nervous to see the film but I knew it had to be done, so we gathered together to watch a movie about a cross-dresser.

I was really surprised to learn that this film wasn't one of the first movies to have a lead male character dress as a women for comedy.  I guess I just assumed that it wasn't done that often because old things are conservative and lame (hey so are my parents).  This was one of the few movies I have seen staring a male who dresses up as a female, I have seen Ladybugs (great/weird soccer comedy) and Mrs Doubtfire. Going into this movie I was comparing everything to Mrs. Doubtfire.  Its struck me as I was doing this that even though Tootsie came out first and may even inspired Mrs. Doubtfire I still in my life see Mrs. Doubtifre as the movie to compare and contrast to.  I guess it is all about perspective.... does that mean kids to day will watch The Empire Strikes Back and compare it to The Phantom Menace? Anyways back on track, Tootsie received 9 Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture, and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, Jessica Lange.

The internet, who know all that is right, fells the movie should receive rating like this:
IMDB = 7.4 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating) = 88%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating) = 75%
Overall, I feel these scores are a little low for a movie on the AFI Top 100.  Maybe the internet hates cross-dressers.

The comedic acting in this movie was really good.  There were lots of really funny characters with good delivery, at the same time though there were a lot of pointless characters.  Hoffman's agent played by Sydney Pollack had some great scenes and great lines.  George Gaynes, or Commandant Eric Lassard as I know him,  was hilarious.  He might have been one of my favorite characters in this movie and he had one of my favorite lines "Does Jeff know?".  Bill Murry was awesome.  He is always so funny and this movie is no exception.  He has great delivery and made me wish he was in it more.  Now I need to insert a clip of Bill Murry being hilarious.

Now as I mentioned there were a lot of characters which just felt pointless, including Teri Garr.  It is weird she was nominated for this movie because I felt her role was pointless and unnecessary.  Also, Geena Davis was in this movie for about thirty seconds.  Though this movie was a comedy there was also a lot of dramatic elements and actors like Charles Durning did a great job.  Now Jessica Lange won for this movie and I think she did a decent job but what I found the most interesting thing about her is that she used to look like this and now looks like this.  Dustin Hoffman, as the lead, was great.  He was funny when it was time to be funny, great in the dramatic roles, and had great chemistry with the cast.  His interactions with Bill Murry were fantastic and though Hoffman wasn't the funniest character in the movie he was still great.

The story was actually real good.  In this day and age it is great to see comedies that not only are funny but have a good story and heart as well.  This film really looked at not only what it means to be an actor:

but also shared a message on gender roles, and how to stand up for yourself.  The movie was also very funny, my fiancee was laughing the whole time.  The situations and lines were just great and it was relatively a clean comedy as well.  Now as always I learned a few things from this movie:
#1: Women have a much easier time getting jobs then men
#2: If you are get caught naked in a friend of the opposite sex's place just have sex with them.

The makeup in this movie is really good.  It is actually sorta hard to tell that Dustin Hoffman is playing a woman, meaning it is better then Jack and Jill.  Though this can lead to an interesting question:

Ewww. Gross.  Also the music in this movie got nominated but I cannot help but this the music is really corny.  It feels more like a sitcom beat the a movie soundtrack:

In conclusion I think this movie is really good.  It is very funny and totally went above and beyond my low expectations.  It is a great comedy with a real dramatic story at its core.  I give this movie a B.