Rate Tootsie (1982)

I think the movie is a solid 9. It's hilarious and excellent. Dustin Hoffman, whom I don't normally care for, he's just a little overbearing, is amazingly great here. The role is perfect for him and he was never as likable as he was when he was Dorothy. I get a little sad at the end when he takes off his wig and reveals himself because Dorothy is so gosh darn lovable! Dorothy rocks! I love Dorothy Michaels! Who doesn't?

Besides that, it's just a very well-done movie with tons of fun supporting characters. They all have their own comic wavelength. From Teri Garr to Bill Murray, from Geena Davis to Dabney Coleman. Jessica Lange gives one of her best, most natural performances. She was never less mannered than she was here. She had just given this super intense, emotionally devastating performance as Frances Farmer and I remember reading that Kim Stanley (who played her wicked bitch mother, brilliantly) encouraged Jessica to accept the role of Julie in the mostly lightweight "Tootsie" as it would be good therapy for Lange to get past the devastating FF... I loved that. So, Julie is almost like a sigh of relief for Lange and I think you can tell because she is just so calm in the movie. I don't necessarily think her supporting performance was the best of the year, but she was very good at any rate. There is also the theory that because her acting chops showed up just as much as Meryl Streep's for her Sophie Zawistowska. Meryl is admitedly stunning here and she just throws down, but Jessica really was every bit of that herself. And one thing that Jessica Lange absolutely does better than Meryl Streep is rage. She sure does know how to explode! I think the scene where she chokes her mother on the staircase is the best rage scene. But there was just no way the Academy was not going to give the Best Actress Oscar to Meryl. They were chomping at the bit to give her the Oscar. No surprises at all that year. And their way of consoling Lange, who was every bit deserving as Streep, was to give her the Best Supporting Actress. But Teri Garr was way funnier than Jessica and it would have been just as nice to see Garr getting the Oscar. It's all so political anyway. Four out of the five nominees are sure fire contenders and then the fifth nominee is always some dark horse running.

But "Tootsie" is awesome and Dustin Hoffman just shines...

9/10

It did indeed. And, when watching it for the first time the discovery that an unbilled Bill Murray co-stars is such as a bonus.

9/10