[.ca] Dr. T & the Women (Widescreen)

WATCHABLE, PAST GERE'S ACCENT & THE DOOZY FINALE:
Like much of Robert Altman's work, this one's quite a hit and miss movie, but worth seeing for some good performances, a handful of genuinely funny scenes, and some of the master's typical ensemble sequences with all hell breaking loose while everybody talks at once. It is probably unhelpful to approach it as though it was a full-blooded satire on wealthy Texas women. For a start, the target is too easy - like the floating and walking birds Dr T and his buddies seem to think it's fair to shoot at - and in any case the focus of the film is not the Women of the title, but Dr T. Richard Gere gives a typically charming and understated, performance as Dr Travis, who is surrounded by women whom he likes and respects in private life, and cares for in his professional life as a gynecologist, but no more understands than most men. Farrah Fawcett gives a touching portrayal as his wife, who retreats into childhood to escape his smothering affection. Helen Hunt, an independently-minded intelligent golf pro, provides a refreshing change - both for Dr T and the audience - from the empty-headed shopaholics who people much of the movie. Laura Dern, Kate Hudson and Shelley Long sparkle as, respectively, Dr T's sister-in-law, daughter and receptionist. As we might expect from Altman, the city of Dallas also plays a leading role; and the best casting is definitely that of Eric Ryan as the "birth baby". What probably made the movie the flop that it turned out to be was that in a typical Altman way (Pret A Porter?) it meanders on and on, with quite a few side-plots introduced (including an aging ex-wife who obviously has health problems but we never find out if they're mental or physical), but the movie never really comes to a point, nor do we see any sensible conclusion to the side-plots. And, the ending is so far-fetched it borders on the realm of sci-fi/fantasy, especially if you know ANYTHING about the geography of Texas or the Southern United States. If you approach it with the programmed expectations of a typical audience, you'll be disappointed. This is a long way from the vintage Altman of Mash, Nashville and The Player. But, it is still richer than most Hollywood fare and would probably make a decent rental.

The most boring film I have ever seen!:
I picked this out on a rainy Saturday afternoon. I had heard nothing about it but because of the all star cast thought it would be a good choice. As I began watching I started thinking to myself over and over again that these actors must have agreed to make this movie to supplement their incomes during a slow year. I have never written a review of anything before but as this movie plays endlessly on I am writing this review to keep someone else from the misery I have endured this afternoon. My time would have been much better spent sitting and enjoying the sound of the rain.

OB-gyn NOXIOUS. Ha ha, get it? That's so funny!!!!!:
I had heard bad things about this film, but I decided to check things out for myself. Ouch. Rarely have I been so bored while watching a movie. It's a terrible film, and I'm surprised that I managed to stay awake till the end. I like Richard Gere, I like many of the actresses in this and I like Altman, but what the f... went wrong here? Was everybody sleepwalking or dancing around with their head in the clouds like Fawcett at the mall getting naked in the fountain? The dialogue is some of the worst and dullest I've ever heard in a movie. The performances are phoned-in and everyone looks like they could give a hoot. How sad. Was everyone involved so desperate for money or so willing to be in an Altman film that they forgot to read the script before signing on the dotted line? Oh, and this is a comedy?! I laughed not once. Not once. That has never happened before while watching a comedy. The opening scene in the reception room of Gere's ob-gyn office with the many women patients and staff members almost gave me a headache - it was a flurry of voices and made everyone seem like they didn't have any brains. Are all upperclass women in Texas this horrific? I hope not. Couldn't Altman find anything nice to say about these women? Make any of them interesting? Helen Hunt is always good, but here she's wasted as the no-nonsense golf teacher, who has an affair with Gere while his wife, Fawcett, is in the funny farm after retreating into herself and remaining childlike. I think she just went nuts while on the set of this film. Liv Tyler and Kate Hudson get to play lesbians, and after seeing Kate's choice of husband, who can blame her for dithcing him and eloping with Liv? The cheerleading class scenes with Kate Hudson talking on her cell phone with her equally obnoxious sister Tara Reid, one of the worst actresses I've yet to see, almost made me turn it off. Thankfully I got the film for free from the local library, but too bad Friends of the Library wasted their money on this mess. I rest my case Your Honor. Send this one to the gallows, would ya, thank you very much, aha, as Harry Shearer would say.

Just Plain Despicable:
This may be the worst movie ever filmed. Its portrayal of women borders on the misogynistic, even though the lead character, Dr. T, is alleged to love women--his wife too much, even. The symbolism has all the subtlety of being beat about the head with a bat: It's a twister, get it? His life is in turmoil! The plot is disjointed and that ending... boy, is it bad. At first you think the screenwriter just gave up, but then you suspect perhaps he ingested hallucinogens. Some bad movies redeem themselves by being laughable. This one, as another reviewer pointed out, just makes you hate it.

Decent theme, but no ending:
Dr T and the Women is about a GYN and his dealings with the many women that are in his life; his daughters, his wife, his secretary, his new love interest, and not to mention the many female patients that go to his practice. The movie sets up everything that is going on in Dr T's life; his daughter is getting married but finds out she is a lesbian, his other daughter is obsessed with JFK, his wife has a mental disorder that causes her to act like a kid and therefore really can't be his wife anymore, his secretary is in love with him, his patients almost tear the place down every day trying to get in to see him, and his dealings with his new love interest (Helen Hunt). Things eventually go so crazy that he can't take it anymore. At the beginning of the movie, he makes a statement about understanding women and what they want, but after the movie's climax, he realizes that he doesn't know a thing and seems to conclude that women are crazy and unpredictable. Really, I think that's probably what the movie is all about and could be stated as the theme for the entire film. This movie had a teriffic lineup of characters and actors to play them. The story wasn't too bad either. My problem is with the ending; it's inconclusive, unsatisfying, and anti-climatic. That's being nice. And yes, the ending is that important to a film like this. 2 stars. I felt cheated, in a way.