14 Days of Screenplays, Version 3.0 -- Day 8: Tootsie

Today is Day 8 of the "14 Days of Screenplays, Version 3.0" challenge and the featured screenplay is for the movie Tootsie (1982). You can download the script from myPDFscripts.com here.

Background: Tootsie was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, screenplay by Murray Schisgal and Larry Gelbart, based on a story by Don McGuire and Larry Gelbart with uncredited writing contributions from Robert Garland, Barry Levinson, and Elaine May. The script for Tootsie won the 1983 WGA award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen.

I want to give time for people to weigh in about the script, those who have read it for the challenge as well as anyone else who has read the script in the past. I'll update this post with my thoughts on the script later tonight.

What did you think of Tootsie?

For links to all 14 scripts in the challenge, go here.

And remember: We'll be reading 1 script per day and discussing them through November 22. I'll be posting something everyday at 4PM U.S. Eastern Daylight Time / 1PM PST for your comments.

The script for Day 9 of the challenge is The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, available at myPDFscripts.com.

UPDATE: While I fight to find some spare minutes to post my comments, why not check out an analysis of Tootsie by an expert in rom-coms: Billy Mernit. Go here to read his take on Tootsie. Fantastic insights!

UPDATE #2: DS in comments makes this point:

This is the script I always point newbies to when they ask about structure and writing about ONE idea -- and wringing that idea to death.

As I read the script (for the first time), I had a similar reaction: There's barely any scene in the movie that doesn't feed into or touches on the central theme of the movie. And how to articulate that central theme? How about if we let one of the movie's screenwriters articulate it:

"...the central theme for Tootsie came from me. And the central theme was that Dustin’s character, Michael Dorsey, would become a better man for having been a woman. That was the cornerstone of the film. All of the other details are just floating around that idea.”

Tracking some of the script's beats:

* P. 10: In a side of dialogue that points to the issue of Michael's self-identity, his roommate Jeff (a great comedic turn by Bill Murray) says, "Instead of trying to be Michael Dorsey the great actor, or Michael Dorsey the great waiter, why don't you just try to be Michael Dorsey?"

* P. 11-12: At his birthday party, Michael displays a chauvinistic streak in the way he hits on a female party guest Patty and another one Linda.

* P. 21: Practicing lines with Sandy (Terri Garr) for her audition on a soap opera, Michael (in character) says, "You don't have a man, so you want to act like one."

* P. 26: Sandy doesn't get to audition for the role and when Michael gets desperate for work, he dresses up as a woman and auditions as Dorothy Michaels.

* P. 28: When the TV series director Ron (Dabney Coleman) tells Michael (dressed as Dorothy) that she's not right for the part, Michael (Dorothy) declares, "You want a caricature woman to prove some idiotic point... like power make women masculine, or masculine women are ugly." This demonstration of assertiveness impresses the show's lead producer which in turn gets Michael the gig.

* P. 31: In the read-through with the cast, Michael (Dorothy) surprises the actor Jo (Dr. Brewster) with her feminist verve.

* P. 35-36: Dressed as Dorothy, Michael surprises her agent George, causing George to note, "You couldn't do that as a man? You had to put on a dress before you could pay someone a compliment?"

* P. 40: Visiting Sandy and waiting for her to emerge from her bathroom, Michael becomes interested in Sandy's clothes as possible attire for her role as Dorothy, creating a comic situation in which Michael's only out is to proclaim his love for Sandy.

* P. 44: In the women's dressing for the TV show, Michael (Dorothy) is challenged to act appropriately around April (Geena Davis) who is dressed only in her bra and panties.

* P. 50: Faced with a situation where he (as Dorothy) will be kissed by Dr. Brewster, Dorothy veers from the script with a feminist message: "If you want to win me over, you'll have to deal with my mind, not my lips."

And on and on and on: Michael's relationship with Julie (Jessica Lange) as Dorothy, Michael's relationship with Julie's father (Charles Durning) as Dorothy, his ongoing relationships with Jeff and Sandy, all leading up to the Final Struggle: How to pursue his romantic instincts with Julie, a relationship which has become increasingly important to him, while living life as Dorothy? His solution: To reveal Dorothy to be a man in a live airing of the soap opera. Of course, this crushes Julie, leading to the Denouement where some time later, Michael approaches Julie on a NYC street, apologizing for the lie, but confessing his feelings for her - and this famous exchange:

JULIE
(almost to herself)
I miss Dorothy

MICHAEL
She's right here.
(hopefully)
Listen... you know -- I was a
better man with you...as a woman...
with you...than I ever was as a man...
with a woman. You know what I mean?

JULIE
Michael, what are you talking about?

MICHAEL
I learned a few things about myself
being Dorothy, Julie. I just have
to learn to do it without the dress.
You have to admit, at this stage in
our relationship there could be
advantages to my wearing pants.

Every scene tied to this one theme, even explicitly stating the theme in dialogue. And as in your face as the script makes the point - again and again - the story works beautifully.