After 40 years (I can't believe it!) this remains among the greatest comedies ever made. For those old enough to remember, the rumor mill predicted this to be a major flop due to so much turmoil while being filmed (8 writers! & a lead actor & director who fought constantly), but somehow it all turned out close to perfection. One can only imagine what went on during the editing process! Funny to have a film starring a notoriously difficult actor playing a notoriously difficult, though minor, actor. Dustin Hoffman has been around a long time and has given many fine performances, but for my money, this is his finest moment. The entire cast is absolute perfection. Hoffman, Murray, Lange, Garr, Gaynes, Pollack, Durning are all wonderful as is in her small film debut, Geena Davis. I don't know who is responsible for what, but all of those those writers, along with Hoffman I'm sure, created a hilarious and insightful film. Just about no one can throw away a line like Murray in his slacker mode and Pollock, a wonderful director, is surprisingly so good as the agent of the unsuccessful actor portrayed here by Hoffman who takes a role pretending to be a woman just to get a job and shockingly becomes a famous soap opera actress who inadvertently starts wrecking lives and needs to find a way out the mess he/she has created. The banter between Hoffman and Pollack about his increasingly bizarre predicament in the latter part of the film is simply priceless, but so many other, sometimes very small, moments are as well. This is one of those rare comedies that gets better as it goes along. If you haven't seen it, today is a good day to do so.
Review of Tootsie
