30 Day Movie Challenge: Day 9- Tootsie (1982)

I hope that everyone is starting to enjoy the slow reopening process of the US and I hope that you are enjoying the more challenging 30 Day Movie Challenge that I have presented to you guys. The task for today was for you to check out a film that was released the year you were born and for me that would be 1982. There was only one film that I really wanted to check out from 1982 and that was Tootsie and it was released on December 17, 1982 and was directed by Sydney Pollack (Eyes Wide Shut). The film stars Dustin Hoffman (Hook) as failing actor Michael Dorsey who has been basically blacklisted everywhere because of his attitude. So to prove everyone wrong, he dresses up as a woman named Dorothy Michaels and he gets a gig on a soap opera, but what happens when he gets too deep with a fellow actress and the truth looms overhead? The film also stars Jessica Lange (King Kong) as Julie, Teri Garr (Close Encounters Of The Third Kind) as Sandy, Charles Durning (Dog Day Afternoon) as Les, Dabney Coleman (Meet The Applegates) as Ron, Bill Murray (Isle Of Dogs) as Jeff, George Gaynes (Police Academy) as John Van Horn, Geena Davis (Earth Girls Are Easy) as April, Sydney Pollack as George Fields, Doris Belack (What About Bob?) as Rita, and Ellen Foley (Fatal Attraction) as Jacqui.

It's so easy to forget how beautiful Jessica Lange was back in the day, but there is no forgetting how ugly Dustin Hoffman was as a woman. The only thing I can really say about this film is that it actually was pretty smart and entertaining and was saying a lot for women back in those days. Hoffman and co. were exposing how women were being treated in that industry because Dorothy kept being referenced as the tough gal who doesn't take crap from anyone and then the speech about women's rights from Coleman's character who is a male chauvinistic pig himself. I'm not saying that the film did anything to change the way women were being treated then, but it was definitely a start. This was also such a weird film to have Bill freaking Murray in it because he is literally so mellow and tame in this film that I was waiting for outbursts, but the man was as cool as ice. He was mainly a background character and not really in the forefront like Lange and Hoffman. There were a ton of funny moments in the film mixed in there nicely with the romance and drama so a lot of credit goes to the writing because they were the backbone of the film. Much like Murray, you see some stars of the future like one Geena Davis who I was shocked to see was in the film, but she looked great. There was really nothing much wrong with the film as it is a classic in my opinion and I am surprised it took me 38 years to see it. So, I am going to go ahead and give the film an A for a final grade.