Tootsie is one of my favorite movies. I first saw it in the theater for a first date on New Year's Eve 1982. The personal relationship didn't last forever -- thank goodness -- but my fondness for this movie has. The story is still entertaining, and I think it's relevant enough for a 21st-century audience. Evidently, I'm not alone in this thinking. The screenplay was adapted into a Broadway musical in 2019. (It got mixed reviews.)

Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) is a talented but cantankerous veteran actor who can't seem to land regular roles anymore because of his attitude. That is, until he dresses up as a woman and auditions for the role of a female character on a soap opera. Not only does he get the part: he excels at it. As actress Dorothy Michaels, he suddenly becomes famous for portraying no-nonsense hospital administrator Emily Kimberly on Southwest General.

Soon what was supposed to be just a short-term job is on the way to becoming a more permanent one. Does he really want to keep playing Dorothy and Emily? After all, he almost stole the role from one of his best friends, Sandy Lester (Teri Garr). In the meantime, Michael is also falling in love with one of his female co-stars, Julie "Nurse Charles" Nichols (Jessica Lange), even as two men are pursuing him (as Dorothy) for dates and more. Michael's roommate Jeff Slater (Bill Murray) and agent George Fields (Sydney Pollack) have been supportive but are quickly getting inconvenienced as they are drawn deeper into his charade. How is Michael going to resolve all of the conflicts that he has accidentally created? He sure has boxed himself into a corner. This situation may call for a drastic measure.

Many of these actors should be familiar to you. And they all do terrific jobs. Lange won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for this film. Geena Davis makes her big-screen debut as Nurse April. How many male chauvinists can Dabney Coleman be, do you think? Here he plays Southwest General director (and date of Julie Nichols) Ron Carlisle in pre-#MeToo fashion. It's great to see Michael/Dorothy call him out for his behavior. Charles Durning portrays Les, Julie's father, and George Gaynes is senior actor John "Dr. Medford Brewster" Van Horn. Both men chase Dorothy Michaels for more than just friendship ... and are extremely funny to watch in the unknowing process.

I like watching Hoffman, but I like Murray's character even better. He's got some of the best lines in the show, including "That is one nutty hospital," and the condemning straight-line, "You slut."

Sydney Pollack directed the film, and he also appears on-screen as Michael's agent, George Fields. He is simply a joy to watch in this role. He's natural and he's real. And the surprise is that he was reluctant to play this part; Hoffman had to convince him to do it. I can't imagine the casting going any other way.

You should recognize the music, too. Dave Grusin wrote and arranged the soundtrack, including the main songs as performed by Stephen Bishop: "Tootsie" and "It Might Be You." The sounds of the saxophone and the mellow electronic keyboard should take you back to the early 1980s. Which may not be a bad thing.

Now, this is a romantic comedy, so you know everything will somehow turn out "right." You just don't understand at first how this is possible. You can watch this movie for pure entertainment. Or you can view it as a social experiment that prompts thought about gender roles and how men and women are treated differently, especially in the movie business. What if I dressed up and portrayed someone vastly different from me? What if someone I thought I knew turned out to be a person who was totally different? We can watch Tootsie now and think, Oh, that was how it was then. But have things changed, really? Or how much?

In the end, watching Tootsie is a lot of fun. If you haven't seen it in decades, or if you've never seen this movie before, please take time to seek it out. Sit back and laugh, and maybe even give yourself a chance to think.