'Tootsie' review by Captain Raptor

'Tootsie' review by Captain Raptor

Of all the themes in all the films in all the world, none has been handled as generally awfully as cross-dressing. When two of the most prominent films based around a subject are Big Momma's House and Mrs Doubtfire, something has clearly gone terribly, terribly wrong. Tootsie, whilst still following the apparently timeless formula of 'man being treated like a woman = instant hilarity', is a multi-award winner starring one of the most acclaimed actors that's still alive today. More pertinent to why I decided to watch it is that it also has Bill Murray in it, and I think I'd give any film featuring him a chance.

The purpose of having Dustin Hoffman cross-dress is twofold, the first purpose being the erroneous idea that this is inherently funny. None of the jokes evolve much beyond ' people think he's a woman but he isn't ', and Hoffman's wispy affectation is just grating. His disaffected, misanthropic actor is a far more amusing persona, but he is mostly sidelined so that he can spend more time in a wig and skirts. Bill Murray isn't the godsend I hoped he would be, and his deadpan, laid-back delivery simply makes a dull script worse.The final half an hour is significantly better than the rest of the film, when people start to find out about the protagonist's dual lives, because then there are other elements: judgement, surprise, guilt - and Murray redeems himself with the funniest segment of the film, simply by attempting to stall someone at the door, and that old relaxed charm just slides back into place. Arguably the funniest performance is actually by Sydney Pollack, the director, giving a brief but at least entertaining appearance as the exasperated agent, and Teri Garr also adds some energy to the proceedings. On the other side, Jessica Lange's love interest is both lazily written and drably performed, which also goes for the majority of the other characters too.

The second reason for putting Dustin Hoffman in women's shoes (both literally and metaphorically) is to draw comparisons about how life is different for men and women. The film portends to be a drama as well as comedy, although there's absolutely nothing within the film that remotely supports that. However, the aim is noble, and the audience is shown clear and realistic examples of everyday sexism as well as highlighting the ridiculous standards that women are often held to. To the film's credit, this is done smartly and effectively, but it does raise numerous other issues. As wonderful as he is, there's an obvious problem in using Dustin Hoffman as a symbol of female empowerment, and for a film that is in clear possession of a social conscience, it's woefully insulting towards cross-dressers. The dramatic aspect of the film is a total wash, and it's troubling in its crass attitude towards cross-dressing, but I don't fault it for trying.

Tootsie is endearing to an extent but ultimately still a poor film. The attempts at drama or social commentary are washed over by dozens of simplistic jokes, and for much of its runtime the film is a stale and meandering mess. Most of the performances aren't up to scratch and the jokes are threadbare. The central and surface message is presented clearly and proudly (albeit kind of dumbly), and there are genuinely funny moments clustered together towards the end, but ultimately, Tootsie failed to engage or entertain me. An admirable failure of sorts, but a failure nonetheless.