After being blackballed for his shitty pretentious attitude, theater actor Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) throws on a sensible skirt and auditions for the role of Emily Kimberly, no-nonsense hospital administrator on a long-running soap opera. Wacky Hi-jinks Ensue as he struggles to deal with rampant sexism, incompetent male leads, his burgeoning crush on a co-worker (Jessica Lange), and the sudden fame of "Dorothy Michaels" far eclipsing that of "Michael Dorsey".
It is shocking how poorly this holds up. I was expecting a comedy classic, not this wet fart of an essentialism argument. Setting aside the stench of homophobia permeating every frame, it is insulting that the audience is meant to believe Dorsey can slap on a wig and some eye shadow and instantly pass as femme in public spaces, much less around other actors. That's all it takes, gents! Then you too can easily and instantly command respect in your workplace by behaving exactly the way you used to, but this time in heels!
This is not a knock on the makeup and costuming team, which did a phenomenal job. Hoffman is a great actor and probably spent a large amount of time studying and prepping before taking this role. There are still some jokes that land, enough for me to see why this would have been a hit 40 years ago, but not enough to make it bearable in this cursed year of 2022.
Actually, this would make a fascinating double feature with The Danish Girl. Both are flawed but you can see the progression of ideals as they blunder along.
I will say this was a showcase for George Gaynes, an underrated character actor. His delivery of the line "Does Jeff know?" was perfect comedic timing and inflection. Tootsie is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel and Hulu, if you must.
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