Tootsie (1982)

Rotten Tomatoes: 91%

Box Office: 241 million USD

My Rating: 7.5/10

Description: To make ends meet, Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) works as an acting coach because even though he is very respected as an actor, he has not gotten an acting job in months due to his perfectionism. When his friend Sandy (Teri Garr) tells him about an opening on a popular medical drama soap opera, he encourages her to audition. After she doesn't get the part, Michael decides to disguise himself as a woman named Dorothy and audition. He gets the part and takes the job because his roommate Jeff (Bill Murray) needs eight thousand dollars to produce a play he had written--and also as a way to prove his agent wrong about him being impossible to work with. Michael soon falls in love with his costar Julie (Jessica Lange), and becomes a huge success as hospital administrator and feminist icon Emily Kimberly, despite no one else knowing that Dorothy is him.

My Thoughts: Going into it, I didn't have very high expectations, but I was actually pretty impressed. It's funny and entertaining as well as having fantastic character development. With the main character having to learn how to be a better man by pretending to be a woman, it's essentially a less creepy version of Mrs. Doubtfire where our protagonist isn't a complete psychopath. The movie does a great job at portraying some of the sexism and harassment that so many women face on set, and in a way that doesn't come off as didactic. Speaking of things it does a great job at, despite the subject matter, to my great surprise, it wasn't homophobic or transphobic at all. Were there a few things that probably wouldn't fly if it was made today? Sure, but for 1982, that's very impressive. There are some parts that will make you want to crawl under a blanket from second-hand embarrassment, but as someone who generally doesn't like cringe comedy, I enjoyed the movie and would watch it again. Also, if Geena Davis is in a movie, that's a pretty good indication it'll be good.

Best Line: "No, no, no - SANDY thinks I'm gay, JULIE thinks I'm a lesbian."