THE GREATEST AMERICAN FILMS OF THE EIGHTIES: #3

By John H. Foote

3. TOOTSIE (1982)

The final three films of the eighties are interchangeable depending on the day. Each is exquisite, bold filmmaking, each could top the list of the greatest of the decade.

Farce depends on mistaken identity, near discovery, narrow misses, and outrageous characters. But what happens if the characters are portrayed as real, and set in the world of New York actors, where outrageous characters are commonplace. The result might be Tootsie, an exceptional farce, the perfect comedy, and one of the finest films of the decade.

Tootsie is, to me, the greatest American comedy ever made, a farce brimming with intelligence and sharp writing, brilliant direction and performances as well as insight into one of the most mysterious art forms, acting or performance, known to man. Directed by Sydney Pollack, so much more gifted than he was ever given credit for being, the film contains one of the most astonishing transformations by an actor you will ever encounter onscreen. It builds to this transformation, but when it happens, when she has overtaken him, it is truly a performance of beauty and purity. After seeing the film many times since that first time on a Saturday afternoon in 1982, I still get teary eyed at the sheer magnificence of the performance. What makes it even more remarkable is that we are in on the joke, the deception from the beginning!

Dustin Hoffman is Michael Dorsey, a cranky, out of work New York actor who waits tables to pay the rent. In between nights at the restaurant he teaches acting classes and coaches actors, all learning from his substantial gifts. Acting is his religion, the theatre, his church. There is no question of his greatness, an opening montage shows us that, just as there is no question to his unbending integrity as an actor, he will do nothing that is not true to the character, he will walk out of a paying job if the director bullies or forces him to do something. His frustration builds to the point of exploding because his roommate Jeff (Bill Murray) has written a play Michael wants to produce and act in, but he cannot get work to raise the money. His much put-upon agent George (Pollack) makes it known he cannot put him up for a dog food commercial because no one will hire Michael. Their argument is hysterically funny as we listen to the frustrated actor argue his point with his agent, who, not being an actor, will never understand.

Finding out he has lost another audition but is aware of one upcoming, he dresses as a woman and heads out to read for the popular daytime drama.

And he, er, she gets the part. Michael Dorsey becomes Dorothy Michaels, literally in a heartbeat, and just like that, Dorothy is born.

No one suspects he is a man because he is so dedicated to his art, he perfectly captures the woman, Dorothy, he has created to get work. She understands how to play those around him, how Dorothy gets away with altering lines, or movements. She flatters her director, her fellow actors, all in serving the character and scenes. Dorothy credits the direction she has been given, feeds the ego of Ron, and quietly works with her fellow actors to up her game. Though his harried agent George (Pollack) is writhing in fear of being found out, and believes his client needs therapy, the ruse is pulled off, Emily (Dorothy) becomes a huge hit on the show. Women love her, she becomes a take charge role model for tens of millions American women. As her celebrity grows, her fan mail increases and soon she is the topic of front-page features in major magazines and an acting coach to the rest of the actors on the show, which angers the director Ron (Dabney Colman), a sexist lout.

It does not help that she becomes friends with Julie (Jessica Lange), the sexpot of the show who claims Dorothy as her best friend. Angered at how her boyfriend (Ron, of course) treats Julie, Dorothy speaks out, realizing he is in love with her but can say nothing.

This is where the transformation into Dorothy becomes complete. Earlier in the film Michael proved very uninterested in children, he was not comfortable around them. While at Julie’s father’s farm, Julie hands her baby to Dorothy, and there is no discomfort, no fear, she holds the child close and nuzzles her, Michael has become Dorothy and is a nurturer. Michael has tapped into his femininity in every way, leaving a Michael behind when in the dress.

And he is in big trouble. The network wants to sign her for another year and Michael wants out, but to get out he will have to make known his betrayal and hurt many friends. How can he do it when one of those friends is Les (Charles Durning), father to Julie who has in turn fallen in love with Dorothy. And of course, Michael has fallen in love with his daughter. You with me?

Being a farce, the action moves fast and furious, with many near discoveries and disasters but not once is it not entirely believable, and perfect.

At the centre of this masterpiece is Dustin Hoffman who gives one of the screen’s greatest performances as Michael/ Dorothy. Where Michael is angry and sharp, Dorothy is patient, calm and kind, they are complete opposites bonded by a love of acting. Hoffman is usually at his best when his character has an edge, even a mean streak, which Michael does, but not Dorothy and the fact he brings this absolute decency to her is a miracle of acting. Great acting is truth, I was taught that and have practiced that when I direct for the stage. What Hoffman does here is truly miraculous. How he lost the Academy Award for Best Actor for which he was nominated, I am still trying to figure out.

Bill Murray improvised nearly all of his dialogue as Jeff, the gloomy roommate who wants people to see his plays after a rain. Like Michael he is committed to art, but equally like his friend, in the extreme.

Jessica Lange portrays Julie, the dream girl and she does so with a breezy bit of beauty and an edge that suggests she has been hurt and does not care to be again. Angry at herself for putting up with Ron’s bullying and cheating, she does find the courage to end it with him, but we also gain a glimpse into how lonely Julie truly is. Lange had a breakthrough year in 1982, with this and her ferocious performance in Frances (1982) as troubled actress Frances Farmer. Nominated twice for Oscars, she would win for Tootsie for Best Supporting Actress just six years after King Kong (1976).

Sydney Pollack is wonderful as George, and Teri Garr outstanding as Michael’s best friend Sandy, an actress given to fits of hysteria, needing much reassurance. Michael’s scene with George in which he argues to justify his arguing with various directors is a thing of beauty. Roaring at the harried actor, “You were a tomato. Tomatoes can’t talk or walk….” he says to which Michael jumps in “That’s what I said…”. A true method acting mad man, Michael seeks the absolute truth in every moment of every scene, logic and truth rule.

Stage veteran George Gaynes is fantastic as the old lech actor, the one the ladies hide from, calling him “the tongue” because of his habit of plunging his tongue down the actress’s throats before they can react.

Everyone in the cast is utter perfection and Pollack guides them as the maestro guides his orchestra. The film is utterly flawless, and bitingly funny. Had the Screen Actors Guild been formed in 1982, there is no doubt in my mind Tootsie would easily have won the Ensemble Award with its exceptional cast. Hoffman and Lange would add trophies to their growing collection.

While a comedy, first and foremost, I urge you to look beyond the story and see the study of acting as an art form we are permitted to explore. The scene study classes, the busting to get a role right, and best of all, that spectacular encounter between Michael and George, his agent, when Michael realizes how untouchable he has become, how his search for truth has ruined him. Yet phoenix like he rises, saving his career from the ashes by his belief in himself and the fact he busts his butt to get the part right.

Listen to the longing in Julie’s voice as she tells Michael, “I miss Dorothy” and we just begin to understand the depth of love the people around him/her have for her. She touched them all, and Michael admits being Dorothy has made him a better man. Incredibly, we understand because we miss her too. The great achievement of director Sydney Pollack was his ability to give unbelievable situation absolute believability in every frame of this wonderful film. Pollack allowed realism to unfold naturally, with authenticity and a grounding truth. Though he and Hoffman often argued bitterly, they completed the film with great admiration and enormous respect for one another. Hoffman has fought with his directors before, a well-known fact, but never as ferociously as he did to protect his work as Dorothy. Only when he realized Pollack was completely on his side, did Hoffman back off. The two, admittedly, made positive magic.

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, twice for Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay, only Lange won an Oscar for the film. Hoffman won awards for Best Actor from the National Society of Film Critics and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, as well as the Golden Globe for Comedy or Musical. The Oscar should have been his, this was the best performance of the decade. In fact Hoffman’s performance in Tootsie stands among the finest five ever put on film. A miraculous creation.

Like me, by the end of this film, I suspect you might be smiling through the tears, but they are good tears, happy tears. That final encounter between Michael and Julie is heartbreaking in its longing and realism. They banter but so much has transpired leaving Julie to admit, “I miss Dorothy”. Michael tries to explain “I was a better man with you, as a woman, than I ever was with a woman, as a man.” They reconcile, painfully aware of the love between the two of being too precious to push away. And we know, Michael will learn to do it all without the dress.

The finest American comedy ever made.