Tootsie (1982)

Tootsie: Directed by Sydney Pollack. With Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman. Michael Dorsey, an unsuccessful actor, disguises himself as a woman in order to get a role on a trashy hospital soap.

“Tootsie (1982) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e**** (out of 4)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMichael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) is an unemployed actor who is told by his agent (Sydney Pollack) that thereu0026#39;s no one in the country that will hire him due to his attitude. Dorsey, seeing this as a challenge, decides to dress as a woman calling herself Dorothy Michaels and gets a job on a soap opera where he strikes up a relationship with one of the stars (Jessica Lange) on the show. As more and more pressure begins to mount, Michael must decide how to get out of the womanu0026#39;s outfit and reveal the truth.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTOOTSIE is in my opinion one of the greatest comedies of the decade and Iu0026#39;d go even further and call it one of the greatest comedies ever made. There are so many wonderful things in the film and it works on so many levels that itu0026#39;s almost shocking when you look back at the film and see how wonderful it is. Not only does the u0026quot;comedyu0026quot; of a man dressing as a woman work but the film is more than just laughs as it hits on what it means to be an actor struggling to get work but thereu0026#39;s also a lot of heart to the film and thereu0026#39;s certainly many underline themes dealing with the differences between men and women.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are a lot of great things in this movie but thereu0026#39;s no question that the true magic belongs to Hoffman who turns in one of his greatest performances. Itu0026#39;s rather amazing to see him work here because heu0026#39;s basically got two different characters that share certain things but in the end they have to be separate characters. What impressed me the most was how believable he was as the female character. Not only does the supporting characters have to be able to believe heu0026#39;s a woman but the magic comes because when you see Hoffman as the woman, you believe it to. I think itu0026#39;s somewhat fitting that during the closing credits the character gets separate credits as does Hoffman. I think his performance as the woman is so great that many probably would believe that a real woman was playing her.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe supporting cast is wonderful as well with Lange certainly deserving her Best Supporting Actress Oscar. She gives her character so much heart and pain that you canu0026#39;t help but root for her. Dabney Coleman and Charles Durning are both terrific in their roles as is Teri Garr who is downright hilarious as a somewhat psychotic friend. THen thereu0026#39;s Pollack who is simply great as the agent. Bill Murray gives one of his greatest performances here because the story itself is quite out there yet his dry one-liners are just so hilarious that you canu0026#39;t help but have tears running down your face.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAgain, the film works perfectly as a comedy but itu0026#39;s so much more than that. The relationship between Dorothy and her co-worker is very believable and the various twists that happen in the plot seem real and theyu0026#39;re never forced. The comedy comes in a very natural way and the realistic characters seem real and not something faked or made up. To me TOOTSIE is a flawless movie that manages to get funnier the more times you see it, which is something hard for a comedy to do.”