Tootsie Review

From a contemporary perspective, I’ve surmised from a few groups that Tootsie can leave a bad taste in the mouth. It’s rather understandable, given how society has grown and acceptance and understanding of various groups have come closer to debate and acknowledgement. Putting that to one side for a moment though, the Sydney Pollack directed piece is a tremendously good time. Nothing more than a thoroughly well performed piece of entertainment, encapsulating all the common messages to come out of the early 1980s period. Certainly a product of its time, but one that doesn’t look to defend, and instead looks to bring out earnest performances from a cast of evidently talented individuals.

Tootsie provides us Dustin Hoffman in yet another great leading role as Michael Dorsey, a frustrated and struggling actor who can’t seem to land a job. His volatile attitude and need for perfection keep him from landing a career-changing role. Finding a role that would propel him higher, he dons a dress, wig and make-up to become Dorothy Michaels, an actress with the traits and qualities to make it far. Tootsie often offers up moments of time to reflect on the state of Hollywood and production, where female performers are patronised, sexualised and demeaned by those in power. It became a topic for mainstream discussion a few years ago, but there are brief flutters of discussion to be found within this Pollack directed piece.

I think this genuinely may be one of my favourite performances of Hoffman. He’s paired up very nicely with the supporting likes of Bill Murray, Jessica Lange, and Teri Garr. They all pile on some memorable moments to build-up Hoffman’s performance. His desperation as an actor drives him to the extreme, his hopelessness and anguish depictable in just about every seen Dorothy Michaels appears in. Hoffman’s ability to pool the film’s message together with the typical romantic side-tracks is a real pleasure to see.

Those romantic side-tracks are indeed the problem though, and it’s hard to imagine anything more predictable during these scenes. Painfully underdeveloped characters litter the rafters, and some of them are so poorly treated and left with unanswered questions that it detracts away from the core message of equality at the heart of the film. Garr’s character, Sandy Lester, is treated particularly harshly. She serves her initial purpose in propping Hoffman up, but then drops off the map around the third act, with no feasible reason to just disappear without a trace.

Moments of great dramatic prose mingled in with conventional and now-archaic moments that haven’t aged well whatsoever. Tootsie is riddled with a handful of problems, but its overwhelming positivity and strong performances are more than enough to make it an enjoyable piece. Pollack’s direction holds its own in a film that fans off Hoffman, Murray and Lange will feel right at home with.