Austin Film Festival: Deconstructing “Tootsie” with Leslie Dixon and John Hamburg
On Friday, October 25th at 3:00 in the Driskill Hotel Maximilian Room, I sat on a panel with screenwriters Leslie Dixon (Mrs. Doubtfire, Hairspray) and John Hamburg (Meet the Parents, Zoolander), and moderated by Baylor University professor Greg Garrett in which we analyzed one of the great all-time comedies, the 1982 movie Tootsie, screenplay by Larry Gelbart & Murray Schisgal, story by Don McGuire and Larry Gelbart (uncredited contributions by numerous writers including Barry Levinson, Robert Garland, and Elaine May).
We drilled down deep into the movie’s characters, themes and structure as the movie is a master class on multiple fronts including:
* Creating a ‘lockbox’ so that Michael Dorsey has only one path to fulfill his goal, achieved in this fantastic scene:
* Introducing a Protagonist who is deeply flawed due to his egoism and sexism, yet a character we care enough about to follow his adventures as a female (Dorothy Michaels).
* Maximizing farcical possibilities with the central conceit — a male actor impersonating a female actor — including an incredible 15 minute sequence at the end of Act Two weaving through six subplots.
* Hitting a pitch perfect comedic tone throughout enabling the plot to explore farcical possibilities while coming across as a realistic story world.
* Crafting a carefully constructed Protagonist metamorphosis arc, stage by stage, whereby Michael learns that he was a better man as a woman.
* Creating a world of primary and secondary characters, each entertaining in his/her own right while providing their own respective narrative function.
The story builds to an hysterical climax, deftly set up and played out to great effect, Michael’s only way out of his TV contract:
Leslie, John, Greg and I all agreed: Tootsie is sheer genius. And I think it’s fair to say after analyzing the movie and watching key clips, the audience in Austin completely agreed.
Thanks to Greg Garrett, Leslie Dixon and John Hamburg for their participation in the panel.
Tomorrow: More on the Austin Film Festival.