Dr. T & the Women

I can think of few directors who have turned out so many quality films in late career as Robert Altman has. "Dr. T and the Women" is Altman's latest, and in telling the story of a popular Dallas gynecologist and the females in his life, Altman has made one of his most enjoyable films yet. Richard Gere gives what has to be his best performance to date as Dr. Sullivan "Sully" Travis. Gere does not get enough credit for being a good actor, and with this performance he shows what enormous range he has. His Dr. T is so engaging and charming, that it is easy to see why he has the following he does. Gere's performance is the centerpiece of a quirky, funny, and hugely entertaining film, one of the best of 2000.

It's really a shame that such an all-star cast (Richard Gere, Helen Hunt, Farrah Fawcett, etc.) was wasted in this movie. It was muddled and plodding all the way through. I take it that the idea of a gynecologist whose life gets turned upside down by the various women in his life is supposed to be funny? If so, this failed miserably. There were a few chuckles in it, but fundamentally the problem was that this movie just plain lacked any consistent storyline. I found Richard Gere's character (Dr. Travis) entirely unsympathetic. Yeah, his wife was sick, and he must have been lonely, so he betrays his sick wife to fall into bed with Bree Davis (Helen Hunt). I just didn't like the guy from that point on, and found myself desperately rooting for the tornado at the end of the movie! In fact, none of the characters in this movie were particularly likeable.

The long and short of it is that I didn't care much for this effort. The idea had potential but just wasn't well thought out. I'll give it a 4/10, but reluctantly and while holding my nose.

I'm sorry, but I like this movie. It might just be my defense of Robert Altman, but I think that this is a good comedy. Dr. T who devotes his life to taking care of women, but never considers how they could take care of themselves. He loves everything about women, and women love him. However, nothing he can do can protect them in the end.

The problem is that this film was presented as a movie for women: a date movie that you can drag a boyfriend or husband to in order to prove love and devotion. The film is actually examining women, their needs and relationships with or without a strong male figure. This isn't a chick flick; it's an analytic comedy. So, the intended movie date turns out to be a disappointment for both parties who have no idea what to expect.

The only positive aspect of this whole misunderstanding is that now, years later, Dr. T ends up on the cheap rack at any DVD store. So don't rent it, buy it, give it another look and even if you don't like it, sell it for even cheaper. When this movie is available for less than a dollar, no one will have any excuse not to watch it. Several of the people will end up actually liking it.

... It doesn't so much 'depress' me that people don't like this film, as it does when I find out the REASONS people dislike it. I didn't even feel moved to comment until I realized the staggering lack of depth that's comprised in most people's criticisms here. I figured that I'd just watched a pleasant enough comedic trifle. Apparently not.

People, dislike this film by all means - it's hardly the best I've ever seen - but don't vilify it for the very qualities that were wholly intentional. I mean, how many of the 'naysayers' here have even the SLIGHTEST passing knowledge of Frank Capra???! There were odd moments here and there in this that struck me as being decidedly Capraesque...

Gere is PERFECT as the guy who - without arrogance - is convinced that he can be every woman's knight in shining armour... Trouble is, they don't NEED any 'convincing'! So, what exactly happens when you take a guy like this and show him a woman who is, by the best information available, completely self-sufficient? All I can say is: If this scenario even slightly intrigues you, then watch it and find out... !

I think the ending is very fitting, too... (e-mail or PM me for reasons if you disagree; as I don't wish to spoil too much for the good people that are yet to watch!) Rather 'Buddhist' - so surely appropriate for a man of Mr. Gere's persuasion... ?!

(7/10, or ***/***** in profile ratings system.)

This is only the second time I've been irritated enough to write a review, the other was "Trixie."

First of all, I'm a fan of "The Player" and of "Short Cuts," among other Altman movies. So when I was at first annoyed and angered by the beginning of this movie, I passed it off to his soon-to-come deeper agenda, which in "Dr. T..." never arrives.

I loathe this movie. Let me count the ways:

1. (Most importantly) We are led to empathize with a man who believes he loves too much, too hard, and hence, the consequences. This, if played out, would be great, as he gets his come-uppance, realizes the self-delusion and that his life and ways with women is a lie. But that's not what happens. We are supposed to feel sorry for and sympathize with him the entire way, even as he cheats, avoids true responsibility and, despite what the ending is supposed to say, never changes. Rather than the boy-birth being a sign of evolution/change/enlightenment, it debunks all that came before, in fact saying that all these women were the problem all along. Instead of being a witty examination of flawed Dallas women, it concludes with a tacked-on non-epiphany, which by its very existence makes everything before it misogynistic, and none of the characters likeable.

2. Watch how many times Altman works in gratuitous nudity, like an 11 yr. old peeping tom. When he shows Janine Turner's derriere-crack, at the end of her scene, it's not Richard Gere following it with his eyes, it's the CAMERA, as if to say, "hey, look at this" -- like a little elbow in our sides.

3. He does the same thing often at the end of scenes, swinging the camera with a wink to pick up a sign, a heavy-handed metaphor or scene-link that is beginning film school pretentious artifice at its worst.

4. The editing and cinematography again is of the film-school variety, and at often times is like a rough cut.

5. Helen Hunt, who for years has been trying to convince us she's newly "sexy," is so self-conscious that we never can buy into any kind of character. I am sick of her flinging her hair.

6. The camera holds so long on the golf sequences, as if to say - "these actors really can play golf," which they really don't very well. But it becomes a call-attention lingering as opposed to a mere setting for dialogue.

7. The overly intrusive soundtrack by Lyle Lovett may be close to the worst in history. Not only does it blot out large sequences of dialogue, and call attention to itself mindlessly at every turn, it actually has lyrics which say exactly what's going on in the scene.

8. The writing and dialogue are extremely sophomoric; very few times do the people seem real in what they're saying, and often they resort to movie cliche-speak.

9. Gere has a few good real moments, but the direction hurts him as well.

10. Altman's trademark "everyone speaking at once," in this movie is contrived and annoying.

11. (And maybe worst of all) this movie made me replay all the movies of Altman that I really like and see that many of tendencies above that I criticize are prevalent in ALL of his movies, now tempering my enjoyment of them. I now see a old lecher with a misogynistic bent and an arrested development, calling attention to his weaknesses in a pretentious and juvenile way.