What's the AFI project, you ask? For more information, or if you just enjoy my bemused ramblings, read here:http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/3/1/25756.aspx
Tootsie is on the following AFI lists:
The Original Top 100 (#62)
100 Funniest Films (#2)
The Revised Top 100 (#69)
I watched Tootsie instantly on Netflix. As for preconceived notions, I had some prejudice against the movie because, again, it is billed as one of the funniest American movies according to the American Film Institute, second only to Some Like It Hot, which, if you have been following these reviews of mine, you know is not my favorite. Also, Tootsie struck me as a new dimension on the cross-dressing farce angle that was explored by Some Like It Hot, only updated for the 80s, taken out of a touring performance group of women and placed in the world of television acting, and pared down as far as the number of love-struck transvestites. Maybe I’m unfairly oversimplifying Tootsie; I think it’s its own film, but I also find it interesting that what tickles the Institute’s funny bones most is men in drag. Still, I’d also heard that Tootsie was at least “cute,” and I do like Dustin Hoffman, so I plodded forward with this next entry on the Original list.
In Tootsie, Hoffman plays Michael Dorsey, a skilled and once sought-after actor who has ruined his reputation by being difficult with directors and is, therefore, shunned in showbiz from the Big Apple to Hollywood. Michael’s agent, George Fields (director Sydney Pollak), can’t even get Michael commercial work because he continually questions his motivations, even if he’s playing something as inane as a tomato. Michael needs work, though. His friend and roommate, who is played by Bill Murray, is writing a play that he wants to direct and produce, and he does not have the capital to make it happen. Thus, after hearing about an audition for a soap opera (a loose parody of “General Hospital”) from his longtime friend and acting student (Teri Garr), Michael decides to go for it. The only problem is that the part is for a woman. Thus, Michael takes three-dimensional acting to a whole new extreme by becoming Dorothy Michaels, new hospital administrator; wins national fame and acclaim; and becomes an interesting new voice for feminism in the process. The only complication is that Michael/Dorothy seems to fall for his co-star Julie (Jessica Lange), who adopts “Dottie” as her best friend and possible paramour to her widowed father (Charles Durning), potentially compromising Michael’s foolproof professional disguise.
Tootsie was definitely cute, but it was also dated, and to claim it as one of the funniest movies of American cinema feels like a tall claim indeed. True, Michael learns that he makes a better woman in the end (this is not a spoiler, by the way), and this kind of commentary was extremely relevant in 1982, but today, it feels like an echo from an evermore-distant past.
The film was well performed; all of the actors were convincing and believable, even if not all of their characters were actually funny in the end. To wit, the funniest character was played by Teri Garr, who, though she becomes a hysterical stereotype of the ignored and trodden upon friend-turned-girlfriend, the typical somewhat psycho ex/girlfriend who can only obsess about her imaginary relationship to a man interested in accidental sex (see the film), she has this fast, ditzy delivery and manic set of tantrums that proved to be the only points in the film at which I really laughed. Even Bill Murray, who is one of my favorite actors in the world in addition to being probably my favorite comedic actor, was decidedly deadpan in this performance and was otherwise relatively unmemorable. And, naturally, Hoffman was divine as Dorothy; he wasn’t the most attractive woman (about which the film readily pokes fun), but the change in his mannerisms and affectations was quite convincing, so much so that I almost forgot he was a man myself until watching scenes in which he sat in nothing but his wig-cap and pantyhose.
In fact, the laughs were designed to be situational, and when Pollak directed this farce toward over-the-top, the film became legitimately funny. Otherwise, it played like a television sitcom stretched over two hours, and while the suggestion of its formulaic tendencies may be harsh, the fact of the matter is that Tootsie didn’t create the formula. Some Like It Hot provided the framework in film upon which Tootsie built its ultimate message about the relationships between men and women. Also, I didn’t laugh more often than I did at these situations because this kind of farce is also prevalent in theater. It was pleasant enough; the film was cute, but I didn’t love it, even if Pollak and company did a good job in piecing together all of these ingredients.
In the end, I think Tootsie merits a rating of 8 for being very good/minor flaws because, in my mind, the film could have been funnier and still remained touching. Also, I ultimately found it difficult to buy the ending. Without spoiling the film, I’ll just intimate that Julie is a very understanding lady and not necessarily in a way I would believe. Still, the message is clear, and perhaps men could learn a little something by wearing a dress (*wink*). Tootsie also does not pass the famous test. As much as I love 80s films, this is not one I saw as a child, which would imbue it with sentimental value, and it might have been cute enough to watch once but feels too much like film or theater that I’ve seen before to require owning it. The film is recommendable, though, as an easygoing film, appropriate when a person just wants to watch a comedy or a light romance, and others might find this kind of farce funnier than me. As for me, there are just other films with Dustin Hoffman and many of these other actors that I enjoy so much more.