User reviews

It's strange how seeing a man dressed up as a woman always seems to be funny and popular with the audiences. Milton Berle helped make television with skits like this on his early 1950s show. It works here, too, with Dustin Hoffman applying the makeup and playing the role to the hilt.

Helping Hoffman is Jessica Lange in, by far, her most attractive role. I'm not particularly a fan of hers but she looked spectacular in here, almost like Marilyn Monroe.

This was a popular film because the humor was good and the two leads did a nice job, and people like a good romance story, too. Hoffman, like him or not, is a fabulous, able to play so many diverse roles. He's an amazing actor.

Sometimes overlooked is the big-name supporting cast which includes Dabney Coleman, Teri Garr, Bill Murray, Chares Durning and Geena Davis. The latter was making her screen debut in here!

This isn't as "cute" as it was 25 years ago but it sure was a justifiable bit hit back in the early '80s.

Remember when comedies used to be actual movies with actual stories with actual points and the funny just flowed out of them, instead of just a flimsy excuse to string together jokes and funny scenes and stock situations? Yeah, me too. What happened?

If you're in the mood for a great movie that will get you to cough up a boatload of honest laughs, then you ain't gonna do better than TOOTSIE. You are not going to find a better written, acted, and directed comedy anywhere. There are plenty as good - but none better. This is a career highpoint for all involved, and when "all" includes names such as Sydney Pollack and Dustin Hoffman, you know that's a sentiment that carries some significant weight.

And it just reaffirms the old adage that every single comedy should have Bill Murray in it.

There is so much more to this film than Dustin Hoffman running around in a dress trying to act like a woman. Tootsie is one of the most intelligent comedies I've ever seen. It is perfectly cast, well-layered, and full of surprises.

Dustin Hoffman plays Michael Dorsey. He seems to know everything about acting except how to stay employed as an actor. In an early montage we see him auditioning for numerous plays where he is either too old, too young, too short, simply not the right guy for the part, or in some cases impossible to work with. We also see him trying to teach his craft to some young wannabe actors, and working at a restaurant to pay the bills. After a hilarious argument with his agent, he is simply told "No one will hire you!" The very next shot has Hoffman in drag walking down the street to an audition for a soap opera part his friend (Terri Garr) was unable to land. So intent is the chauvinistic director (Coleman) on casting a woman that looks tough enough for the part of a hospital administrator, Hoffman is denied without so much as a reading. He responds with a hilarious tirade that opens the door to his television career. Hoffman lands the part, and is soon winning over fans all over the country.

While Hoffman finds it wonderful to be working regularly, his personal life is understandably put to the test. He alienates Garr, is constantly made fun of by his roommate (Murray) and falls in love with one of his co-stars (Lange) who of course cannot learn his secret or he's out of a job. Things are further complicated when two older men fall in love with him. It would be pointless to try and describe some of the awkward situations he finds himself in. You must see the movie to experience them for yourself.

The film is so well-cast it's incredible. There are so many fine actors at work here that it almost becomes a contest of who can steal the scene first. Murray gets his share with his improvised lines. His lamenting of the state of his plays during a party scene will have you howling. The icing on the cake was director Sydney Pollack agreeing to play Hoffman's agent. They only have a few scenes together, but they are the film's best.

Tootsie is head and shoulders above other films I've seen that deal with men in women's clothing. Mrs. Doubtfire for example was all slapstick without much heart. In the end it tried to redeem itself in that department and just got way too sappy. Tootsie also wisely holds back in the feminism department. Although Hoffman's Dorothy Michaels is clearly a woman who inspires others to stand up for themselves, he is advised to tone it down by Pollack in one scene. Hoffman feels his Dorothy character should be doing specials and giving advice and whatnot, but Pollack reminds him, "You have NOTHING to say to women, Michael." In other words, you're lucky you've gotten away with the stunt up to this point, now you should be looking for a way to get out.

Overall Tootsie is wonderful experience. It made a fortune when released, and is still very relevant today. Don't miss it! 10 of 10 stars from the Hound.

Wow!, what a film anyone who has seen this film would definetly agree with me that this film touches you in so many different places. It's funny, sad but also appealing to so many different people. Dustin Hoffman is superb in it, so is Jessica Lange the way they act on set together is very amusing but when they are alone, it's always an emotional scene. Especially the scene in which Julie (Lange) throws a glass of champagne at him when he tries to come on to her at a party, it's so funny. Murray is also good as Hoffman's mixed-up flat mate. Sydney Pollack the director also takes a small role as Hoffman's Agent who unsuccesfully tries to find him work. The viewer sees the struggle of all the characters in their everyday life. There is also a touch of romance in the fim for the sentimentals in this world. The whole team bonds together to create a funny, imaginative film suitable for anyone who is in the mood for a laugh or a cry. I thouroughly reccomend it!!

Among some cross-dressing romance movies, 'Tootsie' has the most organized and simplest development. According to a few others I've watched, stories that can happen from cross-dressing are more than enough, but writers try to add more happenings, stories, comedies, turning movies unnatural and artificial. However, 'Tootsie' stays focused on Michael and Julie's love story. The story itself is not original or fresh; you've heard it a few times. However, out of those stories, 'Tootsie' feels most original.

Michael, an unemployed actor in New York, takes desperate measures by dressing up as a woman called Dorothy Michaels and gets a job at an TV soap opera, where he falls in love with Julie. But how to tell her that he is actually a man...?

Winner of 3 Golden Globes ( Best movie comedy/musical, best actors Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange ) and one Oscar ( Best actress Jessica Lange ), "Tootsie" is a small masterpiece of intelligent comedy, full of emotions, love and interesting observations about the relationship between women and men.

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The situations are deliciously written. Just take the scene where Dorothy is auditioning for the role in the TV soap opera but is turned down because she is "too soft". Her response is gold: "Yes, I know what you want! You want some gross caricature of a woman to prove some idiotic point, like power makes women masculine, or masculine women are ugly...! Well, shame on you, you macho sh*t a**!" When later asked from the producer if she was just acting when she said that or if she was natural, she responded: "Which answer will get me the job?" Needless to say she got the job that instant, and a special place in my heart. But the best scenes are the ones where Dorothy is constantly improvising on the set, like when she was supposed to say to a woman who was beaten up by her man to take a therapy, but instead decided to tell that she would never let a man raise his hand on her( and then she threw a vase of flowers into the wall! ). Wonderful fun! Billy Wilder would be proud!

Dustin Hoffman is pure genius, more as a woman then as a man, as are Terri Garr and Bill Murray, before his critical fame with "Lost in translation" and "Broken flowers". "Tootsie" is quite simply a classic all the way through!

Grade: 10/10

Although this is Hoffman's film (and he's very good), Jessica Lange steals the show as Julie. Charles Durning adds another great performance to this growing gallery as Lange's old man. Terri Garr is bearable for a change and there is a slew of interesting character performances, especially by the director Sydney Pollack.

A 7 out of 10. Best performance = Jessica Lange. A comedy that has not dated (Bill Murray is also exceptional). I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this New York tale. Hoffman deserved his Oscar nomination and I'm glad Lange won a supporting Oscar since she lost to Mess Streep instead of winning for FRANCES.

Possibly the best gender comedy of all time! Everything in this baby clicks: A script that is both clever, endearing and realistic in its depiction of the emotional transformation within Michael Dorsey, incredible acting performances (with Dustin Hoffman, Terri Garr and unbilled Bill Murray as standouts) and a great soundtrack that adds volumes to the mood of the film.

This is a 10! Watch it!

Dustin Hoffman and director/producer Sydney Pollack played with cross-dressing, gender roles and to some degree sexism in this 1982 megahit, the second-highest grossing movie of the year in the United States (after E. T.). The film is not particularly probing or controversial - not by today's standards, and arguably not by 1982's either. At least not beyond the very sight of Dustin Hoffman dressing up as a woman. Tootsie is not an opinionated piece; it's a simple romantic comedy with a creative, fun angle. And it's rather comfortable in that skin, perhaps even complacent. Dustin Hoffman's lead performance is devoted and rather sweet. Although his Dorothy Michaels is an outdated woman from the pre-sexual revolution era, whereas his Michael Dorsey is a modern 40-something of the 1980s, Hoffman still is able to make Dorothy into some kind of throwback feminist icon, if for no other reason than that (s)he speaks up. Some detractors may of course have balked at the idea that the film suggests women needed a man to do just that, but the picture is far too gullible to be accused of such schemes or ambitions.

It's more than a movie about a man in drag and it's more than just a great movie. This movie goes to show that Dustin Hoffman is best at playing the oh-so-very-different characters. Whether it's his unforgettable character in Rainman or Michael Dorsey/Dorthy Michael in this, Dustin is at his best when he plays someone DIFFERENT, someone who is not your average person.

This film will make you laugh, that's for sure, but it'll also make you rethink about the things that really make you happy in your life, something too few of us think about...almost never.

There is so much more to this film than Dustin Hoffman running around in a dressed like a woman. Tootsie is one of the most intelligent comedies It is perfectly cast and full of surprises.

Plot In A Paragraph: Dustin Hoffman plays Michael Dorsey. He knows everything about acting except how to get employed as an actor. We see him auditioning for numerous jobs where he is either too old, too young, too tall, too short, simply not the right guy for the part, or in some cases impossible to work with. We also see him teaching some young wannabe actors, and working at a restaurant to pay the bills. After his agent says "No one will hire you!" The very next shot has Hoffman in drag walking down the street to an audition for a soap opera part his friend (Terri Garr) was unable to land. Hoffman lands the part, and is soon winning over fans all over the country.

Hoffman should be very proud of his work here, as should Garr and Jessica Lange (but I was surprised she got an Oscar for this) Charles Durning was a delight here (He always is) George Gaynes is a lot of fun and Geena Davis shines in her first movie. I didn't even know the brilliant Bill Murray was in this, and whilst browsing the trivia section on here it states that he agreed to omit his name from the opening credits to prevent audiences expecting a "Bill Murray movie£ along the lines of 'Meatballs' or 'Caddyshack'

Fairly amusing to begin with, this film quickly descends into realms of implausibility bordering on the absurd. The simple fact that Dustin Hoffman required hours of make-up work before each scene should be enough to make that obvious. Despite the film's flaws, Hoffman actually does pull it off and makes a convincing female soap-opera actor. The ending brings the whole film down to the level of a soap-opera, perhaps intentionally so. Enjoy Hoffman's performance but don't expect anything profound; this movie does not aim at gender politics, merely cliches and predictable audience tittering.

It's hard to deny this as a funny film, because it is so hilarious! I find myself still cracking up after all these years, each time I see it. I've seen it countless times, and it's still a great watch.

Dustin Hoffman plays Michael Dorsey, an unemployed actor, who can't seem to get along with any director or writer in town. One day, he takes his friend, Sandy to audition for a part in a soap opera. She is turned down, and because he is so desperate for work, he dresses up like a woman, and goes in for the interview himself. He is hired because of his ( I mean, her) defiant attitude, and throughout the rest of the film, he is now known as, Dorothy Michaels.

The film is hysterical, and well-written. There is not a time that I've seen this film, where I didn't laugh or smile. It's light, but has some adult material that might not be appropriate for anyone under twelve. It's cute, and there's really not much more to it than that. I think everyone will love it, once they give it a chance.

This is a wonderful film,I can't remember how many times I have seen it,I love it! Dustin Hoffman is brilliant as Michael Dorsey and Dorothy Michaels.Along with Jessica Lange and Teri Garr and fantastic direction from and co-star Sydney Pollack,this couldn't be any better.It's a great story and well scripted and very funny besides.If you love films you can't not love this one.This is my 2nd favourite film in the world only because ''Some Like it Hot'' is my first choice.Dustin is one of the best actors in the business and continues to be to this day.

There must have been something in the drinking water at around the time of TOOTSIE because Julie Andrews had just played a woman pretending to be a man and here we have DUSTIN Hoffman in the same situation and for the same reason--gainful employment.

Anyway, Dustin does a believable job as Dorothy Michaels, the character he invents when it seems his job tryouts are all in vain. He's a man who seems to attract enemies like flies but when he puts on his Dorothy make-up they're more like moths attracted to a flame.

This makes dealing with his girlfriend TERI GARR even more difficult, not to mention the fact that he's smitten with JESSICA LANGE, the soap opera actress who treats him like her best girl friend.

With director Sydney Pollack and Bill Murray in supporting roles, TOOTSIE gets by because Dustin's Dorothy character is so appealing and believable. She has to be, otherwise all the other cast members would be able to see through the disguise.

It's enjoyable light comedy fluff that wound up getting so many Oscar nominations I lost count. JESSICA LANGE did win for her Best Supporting Role and DUSTIN Hoffman at least did win a Golden Globe for his impersonation of the title character. An Oscar win would have been justified.

Forgive the upper and lower type discrepancies. For some reason, my software doesn't type Hoffman in capital letters.

After 40 years (I can't believe it!) this remains among the greatest comedies ever made. For those old enough to remember, the rumor mill predicted this to be a major flop due to so much turmoil while being filmed (8 writers! & a lead actor & director who fought constantly), but somehow it all turned out close to perfection. One can only imagine what went on during the editing process! Funny to have a film starring a notoriously difficult actor playing a notoriously difficult, though minor, actor. Dustin Hoffman has been around a long time and has given many fine performances, but for my money, this is his finest moment. The entire cast is absolute perfection. Hoffman, Murray, Lange, Garr, Gaynes, Pollack, Durning are all wonderful as is in her small film debut, Geena Davis. I don't know who is responsible for what, but all of those those writers, along with Hoffman I'm sure, created a hilarious and insightful film. Just about no one can throw away a line like Murray in his slacker mode and Pollock, a wonderful director, is surprisingly so good as the agent of the unsuccessful actor portrayed here by Hoffman who takes a role pretending to be a woman just to get a job and shockingly becomes a famous soap opera actress who inadvertently starts wrecking lives and needs to find a way out the mess he/she has created. The banter between Hoffman and Pollack about his increasingly bizarre predicament in the latter part of the film is simply priceless, but so many other, sometimes very small, moments are as well. This is one of those rare comedies that gets better as it goes along. If you haven't seen it, today is a good day to do so.

I have never understood the popularity of this film. Perhaps when it was made in the early 80s it was considered original or daring. To me, it seemed extremely laughless and predictable for most of its running time. Nothing that I saw made me laugh all that much. Nothing surprised me at all. The only person who made me laugh in the entire movie was Bill Murray, who perhaps gives the funniest performance he has ever given in this film.

Never, never will I understand why people think this movie is one of the best films of all time. Somebody sold their soul for its popularity, apparently. I give it a 6/10.

If someone ever wanted to write a textbook on how to make the perfect movie comedy, this film should be the number one reference point. The 1982 film TOOTSIE became an instant classic and is just as funny twenty-three years later as it was at the time of initial release. I love this movie because, like THE WIZARD OF OZ, no matter how many times I watch it, I always see something I never noticed before. Sidney Pollack's inspired direction (and those who know Hoffman, know he probably "collaborated" with Pollack)perfectly brought together all the elements of this winning story about an unemployed actor/acting teacher/waiter named Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) who, despite being a wonderful actor, cannot get work as he has earned a reputation for being "difficult." Desperate to earn $8000.00 in order to produce a play that his roommate (Bill Murray) wrote, he dresses in drag and auditions for a role on a soap opera and actually gets the part. Complications ensue when he falls in love with the soap's leading lady (Jessica Lange), butts head with the soap's creepy director (Dabney Coleman), and has to hide what he's doing from his neurotic friend (Teri Garr, in a performance that should have won her the Oscar)who also auditioned for the soap role he got, a ruse that has the woman convinced Michael is gay. And if that weren't enough, Lange's father, played by the always solid Charles Durning, falls in love with Michael's female alter ego, Dorothy Michaels. Everything works in this film. Towering above everything is the amazing performance by Dustin Hoffman as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels. Unlike Julie Andrews in VICTOR/VICTORIA, Hoffman is completely believable as a woman. As a matter of fact, his screen time as Dorothy is the strongest part of his performance. Jessica Lange is a charming leading lady (though I still think the Best Supporting Actress Oscar should have gone to Garr, not Lange)and even director Pollack makes his scenes count as Michael's agent George Fields. This film demands and deserves multiple viewings and will always be considered a benchmark of American film comedy.

If Tootsie were made today, it would be absolutely awful. Some hack actor would be yucking it up in the leading role and the entire thing would be based around it's one-joke premise; an out of work actor dresses in drag to finally land a role on a soap opera. It would have been two hours of jokes about a man putting on stockings, with a few lazy subplots tossed in to fill up time. Thankfully, this one was made in 1982, before the "hilarious" idea of a man dressing as a woman became a tired and trite excuse to get a few cheap laughs from the people shameless enough to shell out money for a ticket.

Tootsie is a sign of how far we've fallen, because thirty years ago a film like this was made and was actually good. Yes, it's relatively light entertainment, but it's entertaining and so enjoyable and filled with good humor, life and, most of all, heart. That's where it really shines and what the difference comes down to here; this movie has so much heart that it's overflowing with it. Things don't feel staged and the jokes don't feel like they are being forced down the audience's throat; sure the premise is hard to buy, but once you move past it there is so much to gain here.

They set up the premise and then the rest of the film happens organically, as opposed to one ridiculously staged and flat joke after another. The care that they take into establishing Michael Dorsey and Dorothy Michaels as their own separate characters is mightily impressive. When I was watching Dorothy on screen, I felt like I was watching a real woman, not watching Michael in drag. Part of this can be attributed to the care and depth of the script and of Sydney Pollack's direction, but of course a lot of it must be credited to Dustin Hoffman's masterful performance.

This is a whacky premise, but where the brilliance of it comes is how everyone, especially Hoffman, plays it completely straight. You never doubt that he is fully absorbed into this character, as Michael Dorsey is as well. There's never a wink at the audience or a tongue in the cheek, and that's what makes it so enjoyable and good-hearted. They couldn't make one like this these days, so I'm very glad they got one done before it was too late. A very enjoyable picture.

If there is 10 things I would advise my grandchildren to do in their life, watching this film is the 2nd. You think I'm joking though, I am not.

Over the years of cinema the entire trend of men in drag has been used, abused then labeled as being gay. For all you homo-phobics that think this is purely a 'girly flick' with cheeky unfunny drag gags, then stop right there. You couldn't be more wrong. I agree that a man dressing up in womens clothing is no longer a big deal and is never humorous, after centuries of it. This is the most witty, hilarious and relaxed movie that so many actors and directors have missed completely when dealing with the whole 'drag' subject.

The storyline is a hot tempered and highly opinionated out-of-work actor(Dustin Hoffman) is told by his agent (Sydney Pollack) in all kindness that nobody will hire him. He takes it upon himself to dress as a woman just so he is not recognized by those he has p'ed off in the past. From Michael Dorsey to Dorothy Michaels, Hoffman plays a woman with such a justice you forget she's not real. Just like everyone in the movie, you will fall for Tootsie head over heals!

My Rating : 7/10

According to an Actors poll conducted by Time Out New York in 2015 'Tootsie' starring Dustin Hoffman ranked #1 as the Best Movie of All Time.

'Tootsie' is an American comedy and tells the story about a neurotic actor played by Dustin Hoffman who dresses up as a woman to land a plum role on a soap opera.

Funny, witty and plenty of laughs and tricky situational comic moments. Oh and Bill Murray is in it too!

Tootsie could be divided into two parts: the first hour, though not exceptional, is rather enjoyable and dynamic; the rest from the escapade to the country is a lot more flat and boring until the sloppy ending. And if there is a common denominator to all of that, it's the cruel lack of consistency on every level, whether the story itself quite predictable and linear, or the under-developed characters who lack charisma, or the gags... because yes, though it's supposed to be a comedy, the humour is very little present, you barely laugh which is inevitably extremely penalizing. As for the romantic aspect, everything is corny and little credible.

In the end it's Dustin Hoffman, who is very committed in his role, that manages to get this movie the average grade.