Michael Dorsey is having a terrible year. The actor can’t find work because he’s a perfectionist and difficult to work with, so he takes a job serving food in a restaurant and teaches acting classes to make ends meet. When a friend tells him about a part on a daytime soap, he decides to disguise himself as a woman named Dorothy Michaels and audition for it. That decision turns into a full costume, a national sensation, and a romantic disaster.
Tootsie, the 1982 comedy from director Sydney Pollack, follows Michael through that disguise, and it never stops to explain why the plan works. Dustin Hoffman plays both Michael and Dorothy, and the film trusts the audience to see the joke: a man pretending to be a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman. Jessica Lange plays Julie Nichols, the co-star Michael falls for while playing Dorothy, and Teri Garr plays Sandy Lester, the friend whose bedroom Michael hides in while trying on her clothes.
Trailer, via American Film Institute.
The Setup
The premise is simple. Michael is out of work and desperate. His friend Sandy, an acting student, fails to land a part on the soap Southwest General. Michael dresses as Dorothy, gets the part, and starts earning money. He needs $8,000 to produce a play by his roommate Jeff Slater, which would star him and Sandy. As Dorothy, he plays Emily Kimberly as a strong woman, ad-libbing speeches whenever he thinks the script doesn’t push her far enough. The other actors and the crew expect a mild performance. Instead, they get a feminist icon.
The Romance
The trouble starts when Sandy finds Michael in her bedroom, half undressed, trying on her clothes for ideas for Dorothy’s wardrobe. He covers by saying he wants to have sex with her, and she agrees. Then Michael falls for Julie, who is single and trapped in an unhealthy relationship with the show’s director, Ron Carlisle. When Michael tries to approach Julie as himself at a party, she throws a drink in his face.
The film handles the romance carefully. Michael loves Julie, but he can’t be honest with her about who he really is. He’s playing a woman to get the job, and the woman he plays is falling for him. The setup is a trap, and the film knows it.
Hoffman and Lange
Dustin Hoffman carries the film. He plays Michael as a frustrated, lonely man, and he plays Dorothy as a loud, confident performer. The transition between the two is seamless, and Hoffman never lets the disguise feel like a trick. Jessica Lange’s Julie is softer, more fragile, and she reads the situation perfectly. When she throws the drink, she’s not just angry. She’s hurt.
The supporting cast fills out the world around Michael. Dabney Coleman’s Ron Carlisle is a sexist, amoral director who treats Julie badly. Charles Durning plays Les Nichols, Michael’s father, who appears briefly. Bill Murray shows up as Jeff Slater, the roommate whose play drives the whole scheme. Sydney Pollack directs the film himself, replacing two directors who worked on earlier drafts of the screenplay.
The Script
Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal wrote the screenplay, based on a story by Gelbart and Don McGuire. The film was partly inspired by a play McGuire wrote in the early 1970s, and it was first made into a screenplay in 1979 by Dick Richards, Bob Kaufman, and Robert Evans. Hoffman obtained complete creative control after signing on, and revisions to the screenplay and the replacement of directors delayed the production. Principal photography took place across New York and New Jersey, including Manhattan, Hurley, and Fort Lee.
The film’s theme song, “It Might Be You,” performed by Stephen Bishop, reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Numbers
Tootsie was released in the U.S. on December 17, 1982, by Columbia Pictures. It became a critical and commercial success, grossing $241 million worldwide and becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 1982. Critics praised the humor, Hoffman’s and Lange’s performances, the dialogue, and the social commentary.
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Play written by McGuire | Early 1970s |
| Screenplay first drafted | 1979 |
| Production begins | November 1981 |
| Release date | December 17, 1982 |
The film’s themes are dated now, but they weren’t at the time. Tootsie comments on gender roles, feminism, and the media’s treatment of women, and it does so through comedy rather than lecture. The jokes land because the film respects the intelligence of its audience.
The film drags in stretches, particularly during the middle portion where Michael spends time on set and the soap’s plots become repetitive. Some viewers may lose patience with the disguise routine. The ending ties things together too neatly, resolving the romantic triangle without much friction. None of this ruins the experience, but it keeps the film from greatness.
Tootsie is a sharp, funny comedy with a strong lead performance at its center. Hoffman’s work as both Michael and Dorothy is the reason to watch, and Lange matches him beat for beat. The film’s commentary on gender and media holds up better than expected. It’s not perfect, but it’s consistently entertaining.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
