Stacked Actors

Most people think of Sydney Pollack's TOOTSIE as that comedy where Dustin Hoffman dresses in drag. What makes the movie so great, however, is that it ISN'T just a movie where Hoffman dresses in drag. Whereas so many inferior movies after it would exploit that simple sight gag of a man in drag (MRS. DOUBTFIRE, TO WONG FOO, PRISCILLA QUEEN OF OVERRATED MOVIES), TOOTSIE is not a movie about cross-dressing.

It's a movie about an unemployed actor in NYC who's so desperate for work that he crosses a line to land a role. And it doesn't shy away from dealing with gender roles in the workplace, in pop culture, in the regular world.

Watch it again. It actually takes the world of struggling NYC actors pretty seriously. We see acting classes, we see auditions. Even better, we get a glimpse of that world in early 1980s NYC... and more and more, I adore seeing glimpses of what NYC was like back when I was a kid.

It's a comedy but you don't find many comedies like this anymore. The characters aren't a bunch of cartoons. These are characters with depth who aren't trying to be funny. They're just thrown into these absurd situations.

My folks took me to this movie when I was a little kid because my parents were awful at parenting and they didn't like taking us to kids movies because then they'd get bored. I remember kind of enjoying this movie when I was a kid, on some Looney Tunes level. Revisiting it as an adult at different stages, it's remarkable how I've grown to appreciate so many different aspects of it that just blew by me before. The roller coaster of a career in the entertainment industry. The struggle of trying to level up your career. The doubt and desperation that sets in as you get to the stage where you start to question what you're doing and how much you've really accomplished. The loneliness. The fear. Seeing this simultaneously reminds me of how much simpler life was when I was a kid and makes me appreciate the adult complexity that went into this film.

Everyone is so good in this, too. Dustin Hoffman. Bill Murray. Teri Garr. Dabney Coleman. Charles Durning. Jessica Lange. Sydney Pollack. They all get brilliant moments. I think the ending (mild spoiler) is one of the greatest endings to a romantic comedy ever... because it ends with the tentative beginning of a friendship. No fireworks and kisses. Rather, a sense of caution. A step toward trying to trust someone.

Watch this movie again, seriously. It's on cable television. I'm pretty sure it's available to rent, as well.