Tootsie
Academy Award × 1·AFI #69·National Film Registry
Rent/Purchase
When struggling, out of work actor Michael Dorsey secretly adopts a female alter ego—Dorothy Michaels—in order to land a part in a daytime drama, he unwittingly becomes a feminist icon and ends up in a romantic pickle.
What critics thought
Tootsie is widely regarded as one of the great Hollywood comedies of its era, earning near-universal critical admiration for its ability to balance genuine farce with social commentary on gender and sexism without either element undermining the other. Critics found it a rare film that is simultaneously funny and humane, with Dustin Hoffman's cross-dressing performance treated as both comic spectacle and character study.
“Tootsie is the kind of Movie with a capital M that they used to make in the 1940s, when they weren't afraid to mix up absurdity with seriousness, social comment with farce, and a little heartfelt tenderness right in there with the laughs.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorSydney Pollack
StarringDustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning
ComposerDave Grusin
Tootsie
Academy Award × 1·AFI #69·National Film Registry
When struggling, out of work actor Michael Dorsey secretly adopts a female alter ego—Dorothy Michaels—in order to land a part in a daytime drama, he unwittingly becomes a feminist icon and ends up in a romantic pickle.
What critics thought
Tootsie is widely regarded as one of the great Hollywood comedies of its era, earning near-universal critical admiration for its ability to balance genuine farce with social commentary on gender and sexism without either element undermining the other. Critics found it a rare film that is simultaneously funny and humane, with Dustin Hoffman's cross-dressing performance treated as both comic spectacle and character study.
“Tootsie is the kind of Movie with a capital M that they used to make in the 1940s, when they weren't afraid to mix up absurdity with seriousness, social comment with farce, and a little heartfelt tenderness right in there with the laughs.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorSydney Pollack
StarringDustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning
ComposerDave Grusin
Rent/Purchase