#69 - Tootsie

When Roger Ebert originally reviewed this absolutely hilarious, amazing film, he said, "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 and seriousness, social comment with farce, and a little heartfelt tenderness right in there with the laughs. This movie gets you coming and going."

I totally agree.

The movie has such an undeniably lovability about it. It is impossible to resist. Dustin Hoffman, who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite actors, plays Michael Dorsey, a 40-something actor living in New York, struggling to find work. Plot points entwine, and he comes up with the brilliant ruse to dress up in drag and land a spot on a soap opera, playing the level-headed go-getter hospital administrator.

Much like "Some Like It Hot," this movie starts with a gimmick that is always a crowd-pleaser: man dressed like woman. Ha, ha. But both of these classics (#1 and #2 on AFI's 100 Best Comedies, coincidentally) have more substance than gimmick, and that's what makes them both so brilliant.

There is a certain quality about "Tootsie" that I love, yet can't put my finger on. Perhaps it is the purely mainstream feel about the movie, undercut with social commentary about gender roles in post-women's lib America. Perhaps it is how it appeals to all Americans with this "mainstreaminess." No one, including myself, can resist the temptation of seeing Dustin Hoffman in a dress.

But more than these qualities, I think the movie is so brilliant because it is a comedy. It sounds simple, just to say that a movie is great because it is funny. There are a ton of funny movies out there. But "Tootsie" is decidedly different. The humor is mostly purely word-based. Other than the images of Hoffman in curlers and a nightgown, most of the laugh-out-loud moments are born out of wit and genuine comedy, not cheap laughs.

Rather than focusing on the movie as a whole, I'd like to talk about one character who doesn't really exist, but has become one of the most endearing characters in movie history. Dorothy Michaels, the woman Michael Dorsey becomes, is such a sharp-shooter, it is hard not to love her. Her Southern grace and her ability to go toe-to-toe with the soap opera's director make her one of my favorite characters ever. Also, she is one of the only "fictional fictional characters" I can think of that has a life of her own. She's just brilliant. I mean just perfect.

The movie -- I refuse to call this a film: it is hilarious, simple, and brilliant, but it yearns not to be called the pretentious title of "film" -- is one of the most shamelessly funny movies I've ever seen. Tongue-in-cheek, spunky, and forward-thinking, this movie emulates its title character in its own special way.