Dustin Hoffman was Oscar-nominated as Best Actor in 1983 (losing out to Ben Kingsley in GANDHI) for his role in TOOTSIE.
He shared the BAFTA the following year with Michael Caine for EDUCATING RITA, who said on his speech that ‘I had to put on thirty-five pounds, proving that the best way to get an award like this is not to be yourself’
Regarded as the best ‘cross-dressing comedy since SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959), in which Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play musicians on the run having witnessed the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and have to disguise themselves as female musicians in an all-girl band, TOOTSIE is the story of Michael Dorsey, a troubled and troublesome actor who can’t get work whatsoever as an actor in the cut-throat New York scene, working in a restaurant to pay the bills, but teaching acting to other students.
When his girlfriend Sandy (Teri Garr, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND) auditions and nearly quits when she doesn’t get a part in long-running hospital soap opera, Michael tries to talk to one of the stars, who happens to now be doing THE ICEMAN COMETH on Broadway. Incensed, Michael goes to visit his agent (director Sydney Pollack) who says that he is ‘too much trouble’ and should get some therapy after he tries to get him to read a play of his room-mate (Bill Murray).
Michael dresses up and changes gender as ‘Dorothy Michaels’ and gets on the show, becoming hugely popular. However, with his new found success, he finds complex concerns, not least in the fact he is attracted to his co-star Julie Michaels (Jessica Lange in her Best Supporting Actress Oscar-winning role, who was also nominated the same year for her portrayal of Frances Farmer in FRANCES) and her dad Les (Charles Durning) is getting the hots for him….
Hoffman is excellent, thanks to an equally excellent script by Murray Schisgal and Larry Gelbart – and Lange lights up the screen as her career continued to grow from strength to strength. Confused minds and confused identities get even more confused, even in the context of soap opera land, which is pretty confusing at the best of times.
A true 1980s classic.