Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26549 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-02-04
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: PAL, Special Edition
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 112 minutes

Amazon.co.uk

One of the touchstone movies of the 1980s, Tootsie stars Dustin Hoffman as an out-of-work actor who disguises himself as a dowdy, middle-aged woman to get a part on a hit soap opera. The scheme works, but while he/she keeps up the charade, Hoffman's character comes to see life through the eyes of the opposite sex. The script by Larry Gelbart (with Murray Schisgal) is a winner, and director Sydney Pollack brings taut proficiency to the comedy and sensitivity to the relationship nuances that emerge from Hoffman's drag act. Great supporting work from Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, and pre-stardom Geena Davis. But the film finally belongs to Hoffman, who seems to connect with the character at a very deep and abiding level. --Tom Keogh

Synopsis

When theatrical mastermind Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) finds himself blacklisted by just about every producer in the acting business, he decides to thwart the entertainment industry by disguising himself as an older woman and auditioning for a daytime soap opera. Dorsey arrives for the audition in a dress and make-up. Calling himself Dorothy Michaels, he/she gives an astonishing screen test and is hired on the spot by the show's executive (Dabney Coleman). Dorsey is an overnight sensation with the show's fans, but as his secret career escalates, his relationship with his girlfriend (Teri Garr) suffers. Soon Dorsey finds a new romantic interest at work with his co-star, Julie. The only problem is, Julie thinks Dorsey is a woman and it's not long before she's trying to fix up Dorothy with her single father.
In the tradition of Mel Brooks's The Producers, Sydney Pollack's Tootsie is a rich, funny, complex film. In featuring Hoffman as the smock-wearing protagonist, its boldness exposes movie-goers to the hilarious challenges faced by a modern cross-dresser. At the same time, the film promoted tolerance for trans-gendered people. Hoffman is unforgettable as the actor so desperate for work that he'll dress as a woman to get it, and supporting players Geena Davis and Bill Murray create plenty of comedy relief to help the plot along.

Customer Reviews

extras
Good review above,i will just let you know about the extras.There is a 3 part making of 1."a better man"(29:31)2."keep it real" "(21:31)3."good friends"(18:31),deleted scenes(8:12) and dustin hoffman screen test footage(2:39) and a strange bonus trailer for "the life of brian" but no trailer for "tootsie".Hope this is helpful.

Hoffman Shines
Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman), a highly talented, ethical and somewhat jaded out of work actor struggles to find work thanks to to his ridiculously high standards of performance and notable reputation for being aggrivatingly difficult to work with.

Filling his time with working in restaurant kitchens and running acting classes for amateurs isn't filling his time the way he'd like, and his luck with women is wearing thin when the only woman interested in him is his scatter-brained neurotic student Sandy (outstanding performance by Teri Garr).

Michael's agent laments that no one will hire him because of his hard-to-work-with reputation and mild tantrums. After just having coached Sandy through an audition for Southwest General, a popular TV Soap, Michael realises he can play a woman more efficiently than she can. Going out on a limb, he dons an auburn wig, takes his knowledge of stage and movie makeup to good use, and auditions for the show.

Posing as Dorothy Michaels, soft-spoken southern belle with high morals and a no-nonsense attitude, he floors the producers with his hammy but direct approach to the audition and soon finds himself the star of the production. While embodying a strong female character on television, he constantly brings grief to the chauvanistic pig of a director by refusing to do what he's told and constantly changing his lines and actions regardless of what's scripted.

Soon, it becomes increasingly harder to balance both Dorothy and his own life as he begins to fall head over heels for his beautiful co-star Julie (Jessica Lange), but struggles to maintain his reluctant romantic relationship with Sandy. And if those complications weren't enough to leave him reeling, one of his male co-stars begins to show an increasing romantic interest in Dorothy, as does Julie's dad.

Michael begins to realise that being a woman is far more difficult than he ever anticipated as struggling with all those things and trying to keep his identity as a man a deep secret is proving to be the biggest acting challenge he's ever had.

A very funny, romantic comedy that will always be a classic. Hoffman's performance is so incredible, that at times you find yourself momentarily believing he really is Dorothy. Really outstanding.