Dr. T and the Women

Robert Altman is frustratingly inconsistent, and here is at his worst. His very personal style has three characteristics: 1. Many-threaded storylines and characters, many of which raise questions that are not answered in the play. When done well, you get the impression of moving through the world with a curious voyeurism, dipping into many lives which are intriguing enough to learn more about. Except for the youngest daughter, none of these women are worth digging more into. The misogynism could have been an advantage; here it is cheap. 2. Spontaneous acting. Altman doesn't tell his actors what to do, trusting them to bring something fresh. In the best case, the differing visions of the actors add to the manyhued effect described above. But you need powerful actors like he had in "Cookie's Fortune." These folks, some of whom are fine when given direction, simply can't synthesize. 3. Wonderful tracking shots (which move from character to character so enhance the two effects noted above). Check out the first shot in "The Player." That alone is worth the admission. Here, we have a busily choreographed shot at the beginning and a dizzy pullback at the end, but neither to any useful effect. Avoid this film. The master was asleep.

source: Dr. T and the Women

Ok, we expect Helen Hunt to be annoying, and she delivers in spades as usual. But, brace yourself, she is about the least annoying thing in this directionless, mindless supposed satire of the Dallas rich. Imagine every catty, vapid, self-obsessed woman you have ever known. Litter them around Richard Gere as a middle-aged gynecologist doing his best impression of a human being, and then add endless whining, sniping, back-stabbing, preening, drinking, and shopping. Throw in a Wizard of Oz ending that is so ridiculous that it is anything but laughable. Are you getting the picture yet? Robert Altman has given us masterpieces like Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, and we love him for it. But even he can't be forgiven for this worthless nonsense.

How did the man who gave us "M*A*S*H" and "Gossford Park" come up with this misogynistic mess?? Rich, overdressed women who hang out in their gynecologist's office (a gynecologist with no partner in sight, which means he must be on call 365 days and nights a year) and spend their days planning weddings or bitching about things. When not being examined by the good doctor these women have so little in their lives that they either go insane or turn into lesbians. Must be from too much shopping at Neiman Marcus. And that's about it, plot-wise, for nearly two hours. I tried watching this movie with a few glasses of wine and then the next morning, after coffee and exercise, I tried again. It didn't make any difference. Jaw droppingly bad, from beginning to end.

A comedy with R. Gere being a gynecologyst surrounded by women and trying to "love" them all in his own ways. Insignificant to me and apparently lots of other reviewers. I suspect the point being that I find it very hard to understand what this movie is about without feeling the unease of patronizing conservatorism, condescending paternalism and misogyny. Maybe I should just conclude that Altman is showing us his idea of Dallas (as for many of his works dedicated to cities), but then some scenes/characters would be pointless... Anyways I'm never satisfied with a film that I can't understand. Unfortunately, I can't just ignore it, because "Dr T" is one of the finest productions I can imagine. Some ensemble scenes are perfect masterpieces that evoke the dedicated artistry of dozens of ancient scribes and painters and an orchestra working together. I have watched less than half of Altman's films and yet I believe that if you study cinema or theater you have to watch this one.

The style of the opening sequence, a long improved shot that usually works in other Altman films, crashes horribly in this movie as it is just a blur of dialogue. But the Tiffany sequence starts to recover the movie, and once Helen Hunt enters, the film is in its right gear. Speaking of gears, Richard Gere is fine in this film.

This movie was a very big disappointment for me. I went to see a Robert Altman-movie and I saw this! After seeing MASH I thought most of the Altman-movies are good, but this... Sad to say but I guess this was the worst movie I have ever seen. Not even good actors Richard Gere or Helen Hunt could save the movie. Gere and Hunt didn't have their usual shine in their roles. Hunt couldn't turn the bad character to good. Her character was empty. Also Gere's character was pretty lousy. None of the characters was interesting. All of them were very superficial and empty. Sad but true: I have nothing good to say about the film. Sometimes a bad film can be saved with a good end but... the end of this movie was the worst part of the film...if that's possible.

Altman, the director of many great films, has fumbled on this one. The movie is bad, just plain bad. Sure the film has some good acting, Gere and most of the ladies shine. But one will walk away with one question browsing their mind: why? The film is bad....but that ending, well the ending makes it infamously bad.

Dr. T and the Women (2000) Richard Gere, Helen Hunt, Farrah Fawcett, Laura Dern, Shelley Long, Tara Reid, Kate Hudson, Liv Tyler, Janine Turner, Robert Hays, Matt Malloy, D: Robert Altman. Dr. Travis is a much-admired gynecologist in Dallas who adores women and speaks of them as saints. While his wife goes through the `Hestia Complex' (which effects high-class and over-loved women), she divorces and he has an affair with his golf instructor Hunt; the doc's life sinks and he learns that women annoy him. Beguiling, subtle romance-drama studies its characters, is well acted, especially by Gere, but sadly lapses from a hasty ending and the irksome personalities: one of the patients smokes during her examination. Running Time: 122 and rated R for some language, sexuality, and nudity. **

It is a corruption of the market for film entertainment when a well-reputed cast is combined with a terrible script and direction to produce a dog such as this, which is then marketed on the strength of the cast. I rented the film because the storyline sounded funny and the cast is strong. What a huge mistake. I cannot understand why Gere, Hunt and Tilley agreed to participate. There is no appreciable plot, not a single character has any depth and the ensemble scenes just irritate the senses. Hunt is the only actor with presence in the film but her character is never properly developed.