1982 / 116m - USA
Comedy, Romance
1.5*/5.0*
Tootsie poster

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August 19, 2020

1.5*/5.0*

Cross-dressing comedies really aren't my favorite niche. It's not the cross-dressing itself that bugs me, rather the tired and predictable comedy that comes with it. Mix it with a basic romance and apparently you have one of the greatest films of all time. Not sure how and where Tootsie found its critical acclaim, but it's time for a revision.

Dustin Hoffman plays a talented but overly demanding actor who can't get a decent part anymore. Desperate as he is, he dresses up as a woman and lands a job in no time. He falls in love with the character he created, but when he starts making friends the situation becomes quite complicated.

There's some (rather obvious) subtext on how women are often treated as second rate citizens (both on the job and privately), but in the end Tootsie is little more than a basic romantic comedy. The film looks pretty bland, performances are unremarkable and the plot is very predictable, no idea why some people got so excited over this film.