Cheap Dr. T & The Women (DVD) (Richard Gere) (Robert Altman) Price

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Customer Reviews of Dr. T & The Women

Richard Gere and all the Women
This is an excellent Altman movie. Though there is the usual large cast you expect from an Altman movie this one is unique in that despite all the periphery confusion it brings an ever increasing focus on just one character, Dr. T himself. Richard Gere has never been one of my favorite actors but he gives an impeccable and likable performance as an always generous and compassionate gynecologist. His wife played by Farrah Fawcett has a breakdown(and gets naked in a fountain) at the mall early on and spends the entire movie institutionalized. His daughters are played by Tara Reid and Kate Hudson, ones a JFK conspiracy nut and the other a lesbian cheerleader(her lover played by Liv Tyler). Dr. T's work life is equally confusing as he treats one hypochondriac after another. Excellent small part by patient Janine Turner. While his wife is in getting treatment he begins an affair with independent golf pro Helen Hunt. In synopsis the movie sounds wacky and it is but it is also a very solid drama. The movie has a backbone and that is Gere. As his perfect life falls away before him he becomes more and more exposed, vulnerable. Lyle Lovetts soundtrack provides a sober running commentary on one man losing control of his life and how he deals with that. An ending that will blow you away....highly recommended. This is a very confident Altman being experimental in a very interesting way, he's full of insight again. Reminds me of some of his seventies work like 1978's The Wedding, but with firmer directorial control.

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Less than average for Altman
Robert Altman's latest ensemble piece opens with a scene that basically fills in the background from which the rest of the film will spring. In a gynecologist's office in Dallas, his upscale clients are fighting tooth and nail to get into his stirrups. The roving camera shows us high society Southern belles in sequined suits and extravagant hats ready to claw the eyes out of each other's heads to get the undivided attention of his staff. That din of shrieking women is Dr. T.'s life.

Richard Gere plays Dr. Sullivan "Sully" Travis, a man with a few too many problems. His wife (Farah Fawcett) has succumbed to a condition called the Hestia Complex that leaves her in a mental hospital after a nude frolic in a shopping mall fountain. His two daughters Connie (Tara Reid) and Dee Dee (Kate Hudson) are hashing out the details of the latter's upcoming wedding. Connie is flunking out of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders training camp. Dee Dee's interests might lie elsewhere. His sister-in-law Peggy (Laura Dern) is divorcing her husband and has, with three matching kids, moved into his home. His office manager Carolyn (Shelley Long) thinks she may have just what the ole doc needs. And the new golf instructor in town (Helen Hunt) is just too interesting to keep out of his mind for more then 10 minutes. All in a day's work.

Of course Altman is known for these sort of huge casts and can often handle them very well indeed (MASH, Short Cuts, etc), but lately he hasn't come up with a big winner. Last year's Cookie's Fortune is probably his best of late and, while very watchable, Dr. T. pales in comparison to even that modest success. Both films are set in the South and feature a lot of local flavor. Being a native Dallasite myself, I don't think you can make a film based here without mentioning Tom Landry - it's probably a local ordinance. Altman also definitively identifies Dallas' alpha male culture with golf, patio grills, hunting, football and, of course, women.

I'd have to agree with Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly when he says, "This may be the last place in America where feminism and chivalry could still be duking it out." I always open the door for a woman (and hold it for any more that may be coming). I wouldn't cuss in casual conversation with a woman I didn't know, although I probably would with a man. And I don't personally like women who drink or have tattoos either. I say all this to give you an indication of the way most men are raised in Texas and Altman has captured that perfectly.

Sully is a guy who just wants his life to settle down and let him catch a breath. Mainly that means his daughters and sister-in-law, a blonde trio that harries him with every demand and never manages a thought outside their own little social circle. While provocative, the women that torture him never really become full fledged characters. Even Liv Tyler who shows up as the bridesmaid from Houston has only a few words in the entire film, none of which give us a hint as to who she is. The one person who might save him (and the film) is Helen Hunt but her role as the one rock steady female in the story is cut short in the effort to include so many of the others.

While Gere does an admirable job as the decent, honest and confused man, Altman just doesn't give us enough time to get to know these folks. He's sure to do better in the future (as he has in the past), but at least Dr. T.

is an interesting failure. The final scene seems like a return nod to P.T. Anderson's Magnolia, which was fun to see but probably my favorite part was Laura Dern's three little girls. All dressed alike and on their little leashes. It reminds me of two kids I met while in high school. Their knucklehead parents actually named the twin boy and girl "Cotton" and "Candy". This, dear friends, can only happen in Texas.

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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.