I just didn't get this.
It's like a mediocre drag-comedy with some big names and a horrible, horrible, retirement-center advertisement score.
One of the best comedies ever?
I'm so confused.
Someone explain.

Well, I just loved that "retirement-center advertisement" score. Memorable at the very least. And of course, there's Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange doing some of their best work, and the spot-on direction and editing. It's just a sweet film, I remember loving it when I first saw it years ago, and it still remains a favorite in the drag genre, alongside Some Like it Hot. It's a hoot.

Weren't ALL scores like that in the '80s, though? It's felt that way, anyway.

Personally I find it very deserving of its classic status. The reveal at the end is of the funniest moments, like, ever.

****

One of my favorites.

Whatevz, I'm giving it a D for Dated.

Has moments, but on the whole I find its popularity and legacy (what was this, #2 on the AFI list?) confounding. It's not very funny, and it's not very romantic.

The only thing I like here is the lovsey-wovsey end credits song (which I just checked was nominated for an Oscar). As for the movie, it's kind of forgettable for me, and has moments (especially when the Jessica Lange character thinks Dorothy's a lesbo).

I saw this when I was like eleven and laughed my ass off. It was one of the first times that I really loved a comedy that didn't rely much on physical humor as much as clever dialogue. A really great comic gem. Hoffman's so, so, so good.

A

Yeah...

I'd never seen Tootsie before and knew pretty much zero about it's story and plot going in. I knew that Hoffman dressed as a lady for some reason, and that's all. I was really enjoying the first third-ish but then it began to fall apart for me. I was okay with him dressing as a woman for the job in the first place, because as a character he seemed unbalanced enough to do that, but as it went further and further he became less unbalanced and more legitimately crazy. I mean, what did he expect to happen when he went up with her to visit her father for the weekend? He knew the dad liked him at that point, and Lange's character thought "Dorothy" was just a lady friend so it's not like he was going to make his move...so what the hell?

Almost every man in the movie was a complete douche and/or near rapist. Was Lange's character's dad supposed to be loveable? He seemed like an amazing misogynist who considered all women (or "girls" or "little lady" or all the other crap that came from his mouth) inferior in every possible way to the point that I actively wanted him to exit the film in any possible way. That doctor character forcing himself on "Dorothy" was way beyond anything funny, that was fucked up. Not one man in the movie seemed capable of taking no for an answer, except Bill Murray's Jeff who came across as a reasonable, funny guy.

Oh, and when Hoffman as Michael tried to use the insider info (that "I find you interesting and want to make love to you" stuff) he became kind of a sexual predator, not to mention an idiot. I thought it was odd Lange's character didn't think it odd that soon after she told "Dorothy" that stuff some guy said that to her, almost verbatim. She didn't even ask "Dorothy" if she told anyone about that or anything and the fact that Michael tried to trick her into having sex with him is never brought up after she finds out the truth.

Also, as has been said, the music in this was unbearably 80's and cheesy. A big con in my book, because it was so distracting. It's hard to take a scene/sequence seriously with some of that truly awful music dominating the whole thing.

Bill Murray was funny (I kind of would've preferred a movie about his and Teri Garr's characters) and the big, live reveal at the end was funny--though the moment it was mentioned earlier that they sometimes have to go live when they lose footage or whatever telegraphed the whole thing so much. Now anything like that makes me think of that bit from Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang where Harry-as-narrator mocks the whole blatant exposition-setup-for-the-climax stuff ("What's that on the TV in the background? The new power plant's opening up? Gee, I wonder where the climax will be...").

I really tried to put aside the misogyny/vague homophobia as just a product of the times or something, but it--the misogyny mostly--was dripping from everything to the point I couldn't ignore it. It's not that it was there, but that it was just generally accepted as okay. I tried to think of it in terms that maybe it was just an accurate portrayal of the time but the dad character and the fact that he was supposed to be a nice guy, a good representation of males, made it all seem very gross to me.

I would've liked it more if at the end Lange's character told Michael to go to hell, or something, and ended the movie free of his psycho "love" bullshit and her asshole boyfriend. That would've been good.

The fact that this was nominated for a bunch of big Oscars (like Picture and Director) sure enforces that the Oscars have always meant next to nothing and it's not just a recent thing.

TOOTSIE

I bought this on a whim during a criterion.com half off sale and I'm glad I did. I was aware of the film and of Hoffman's role just because of the cover but I had never watched this film before until yesterday.
It was wonderful and hilarious. I thought Hoffman, Garr, Lange all gave great performances. The story started a bit slow but as soon as he got hired and went back to his agent in full dress the film just flew by. The music was nice though very 80s. The near final moment when he exposes the truth about himself has to be one of the funniest craziest moments I've seen. It was a insanely funny speech that his character was making up and the delivery was perfect. Bringing a smile to me just thinking about the whole scene.

Grade - A