Tootsie

Tootsie. 1982 Columbia Pictures.
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, Sydney Pollack, Geena Davis
Director: Sydney Pollack
Available from Amazon (25th Anniversary Edition).

A movie with a positive message, and that message is, it's perfectly acceptable for a desperate man to dress as a woman to get what he/she wants.

Dustin Hoffman is Michael Dorsey, a respected but perfectionist actor on the brink of forty. At this point in his career, nobody anywhere wants to hire him because he is so difficult to work with, or he's either too old, or too young for a part. He hears from his friend Sandy Lester (Garr) of a role on a soap opera. After an argument with his agent George Fields (Pollack) that drives home the fact that he's too much of a pain to work with, Michael comes up with a plan. Entrusting only Fields, and his writer roommate Jeff Slater (Murray), Michael becomes 'Dorothy Michaels', the feisty "actress" who quickly becomes the newest cast member of the soap Southwest General.

Michael thinks this charade is only a temporary gig to pay the bills, but as Dorothy, he becomes a sensation, signed to a long-term contract, and later, he starts appearing on magazine covers.

There are other problems to deal with for Michael other than being exposed, notably his strong attraction to a co-star, Julie Nichols (Lange, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress). Julie is in an unhealthy relationship with the show's director, the amoral and sexist Ron Carlisle (Coleman), who is just a miserable sonuvagun (Michael discovers he has a lot in common with the director when it comes to women). Michael, as Dorothy, finds himself being pursued by Julie's widowed father Les (Durning), who even proposes!

It's up to Michael to find a creative way to get out of the complex situation he's gotten into, and he does it beautifully during a live taping, although Julie isn't too thrilled with the revelation...for the moment.

Highly, highly, highly recommended.