Tootsie Reviews

(OK) As dated as contemporary, arrives to new topics (gender, for instance) through old plots, as change of sex here, romantic comedy stuff now and then. Great Hoffman, yes...

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. To be honest, I always had some rather mixed feelings about this flick. Indeed, it is supposed to be a massive 80’s classic but I always thought it was fairly entertaining but not much more than that, I’m afraid. Basically, even though it is definitely better than ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’, the concept is actually really similar and it is so preposterous, it is actually really difficult to take the whole thing seriously. I mean, is it really believable to think that a guy won’t get any acting jobs as himself but would manage to be hired instantly as soon as he dressed up in drag? Sure, Dustin Hoffman was at the top of his game, he gave a really solid performance here and the whole thing was enjoyable but I was never able to shake the idea that the whole thing was actually rather stupid. Furthermore, in my opinion, the damned thing was actually rather sexist. Indeed, in this movie, the women are basically portrayed as either hysterical or spineless. In fact, they are so incompetent that a man can apparently be a better a woman than they are. Anyway, to conclude, even though I’m not a huge fan of this flick, I have to admit that it is still a fairly entertaining comedy and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Outside of When Harry Met Sally, this movie ranks as one that could easily represent the epitomy of the modern romantic comedy.
A good script, with each of the central actors approaching their roles with quality efforts, despite the lightness of the subject matter. This movie has the heart, laughs, chemistry & even a touch of satiric social commetary that matches the rest of the film's themes in the same way that a nice pair of high heels would match an elegant dress-gown.
Tootsie's end-result is that it satisfies in the manner which was always meant to be of the rom-com when the genre was first conceived.

A classic comedy, it pioneered a new style in mainstream cinema: lots of subplots, pop allusions, dramatic complications, subversive implications, a happy ending, and marvelous performances by Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, and my favorite, Teri Garr, who isn’t as popular as she could be.

I never get tired of watching this film.