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Dr. T & The Women

Dr. T & The Women

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Terrific Altman movie
Review: Very funny Altman movie that isn't so much about ditzy women as it is about a man who infantilizes them. Funny performances from a wonderful cast, with Laura Dern and Kate Hudson standing out. Highly recommended. This is a real comedy - it puts poorly written tripe like What Women Want and The Wedding Planner to shame.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A waste of acting talent
Review: Jackson Pollack became famous in abstract art for laying a canvas on the floor and splashing, dripping and hurling paint on it. After seeing this film, one might conclude that Robert Altman is to film as Jackson Pollack is to art. The question is whether this is genius or just a compulsive eccentric flinging stuff into the frame. My vote goes to the latter.

The story is a very scattered, almost incoherent stream of foolishness that surrounds the life of Dr. Sullivan Travis (Richard Gere). Dr. T is a prominent gynecologist in Dallas Texas and his socialite patients are among the looniest on the planet. His wife (Farrah Fawcett) went nuts because he loved her too much and treated her too well. His daughter (Kate Hudson) is getting married and her lesbian lover (Liv Tyler) is her maid of honor. His long time nurse (Shelley Long) is in love with him and along with his golf pro (Helen Hunt), wants to seduce him. To top it all off his ditzy sister in law (Laura Dern) is living in his house with her three daughters.

The script has comic possibilities, but Altman's bizarre presentation dissipates it into a chaotic din. Most every scene is dominated by the constant yakity-yak of ten women tittering and chattering at once. Clearly, Altman is attempting to lampoon Texas society with his characterizations, but his free-for-all style turns it into amateurish trash of sitcomesque proportion.

This film is extremely unflattering to women. Almost all the women are portrayed as insane over-emotional, irrational, stupid, or hypochondria ridden flakes. The only woman close to normal is Bree (Helen Hunt), and she is manipulative and self absorbed. Dr. T, in contrast is levelheaded, rationale, reasonable, sensitive and wonderful. His shooting pals are also seen as pretty normal guys, if not particularly bright.

A treasure trove of acting talent is squandered in the cacophony. Richard Gere plays a very lovable character, which is a novelty for him. He is all sensitivity and vulnerability here without a hint of his normal macho impassiveness. Helen Hunt gives another fine performance as the self-centered golf pro who seems to be Dr. T's refuge from all the crazy women that surround him, but is really using him for her own hedonistic ends. Farrah Fawcett also gives a terrific rendition of a woman who has taken leave of her wits. In truth, the entire all-star ensemble is fantastic. However, great performances with a bad script and a weird director add up to nothing more than so much debris chucked into the frame.

I rated this film a 3/10. The whole is much less than the sum of the parts. For a film with this many bankable stars to gross only $13.0 million at the box office ($5 million of that in week one) is a clear indication of how poor it is. If you are lucky enough not to have seen it yet, do yourself a favor and miss it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: S T U P I D!
Review: I cant believe that the stars of this movie said YES, to the script. I have never seen a movie this horrible. We watched the whole movie, HOPING it would get better. Nope! The ending was even worse. I'm sure Gere and Hunt are trying to forget they even wasted their time on this one.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A Sub-Par Film for Altman
Review: With such a talented cast and a semi-decent story, you think it would have been a great movie. Richard Gere plays a gynecologist in a large Texas town. His life is on the down side and he is close to having a nervous breakdown. His wife is going crazy. One of his daughters might be a lesbian and the other is just mean. He doesn't know what to do. That's when golf pro Helen Hunt moves to town and he is immediately infatuated with her. I love Robert Altman. He is a great story teller, but there was something missing from this film. If you truly love Altman, then take the time to watch it...if you normally don't, then you might want to steer clear from it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Don't Waste your money
Review: This is the worst film I have ever seen. From begining to end, this the worst produced and directed film I have ever had the misfortune to see. The ending was unnecessary and tramatic. The only reason I saw the end at all is due to my neigbor. Whom mistakingly believed this film had to get better at some point. Boy was he ever wrong.

I do not know why this film was created and why Richard Gere would allow himself to be cast in this film. What a bad career move for such a wonderful person with such style.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Film
Review: This is a great film from Robert Altman and is probebly his best in years.Kudos to Richard Gear in his performance,it has to be his best ever and he should be nominated for best actor. The movie is funny and it makes you think in the end.Rent or buy this film.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Less than average for Altman
Review: 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.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Typical Altman style, just no script
Review: This movie contains all of Altman's trademarks. Long uncut takes, interweaving storylines, and a big event at the end to wrap it all up. This one isn't nearly as great as Short Cuts or Nashville. It is still entertaining and the performences are pretty good. The script just isn't very substancial and is lowered to blatant misogynism. The ending is very pathetic. It is completely ridiculous, and sorry to say, looks very very fake. You might say I shouldn't care, but if anything distracts me and takes me out of the film, I consider a bad thing. Definitely worth watching for Altman fans.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A complete waste of my time and money
Review: This movie was horrible. It made absolutely no sense. It was nothing but a bunch of scenes that seemed to serve no purpose. Nothing was tied together at all. There was no plot, as far as I could see. For instance, about half of the scenes take place in the waiting room of Dr. T's office. There are all of these women who are waiting to see him and most of the time they are just getting in cat fights. And there is no reason for any of this to be in the film! It serves no purpose! And why was the wife's sister even in the movie? All she did was dress up her 3 girls to match each other and then hand them over to the nanny while she would get herself drunk. Nothing tied in at all! It was as if the director and writers had all of these ideas for the storyline, but they would repeatedly abandon them about halfway into that idea and then jump to a new idea which they would also later abandon. I was completely amazed at the stupidity of this movie. I never thought that anything could be that pointless. This movie was a total waste of my money and time and I if I were you I would steer clear of this one.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Why would anyone want to see this?
Review: My husband and I went out to see Richard Gere in a movie with Helen Hunt...both actors we absolutely think are terrific. I cannot imagaine why these two fine and talented actors would allow themselves to be used by Hollywood in such a distasteful stupid movie with absolutely no plot. The ending was the worst thing and made absolutely no sense. If guys wanted to see a live birth of a baby this would be the movie to see. This movie absolutely insults your intelligence and gives movie making a bad name! Richard Gere...shame on you! You have disappointed me and you too Helen Hunt. Your fine talents and acting abilities are worth far more than this movie! It was NOT funny and it WAS insulting to intelligent people. Sorry this movie was one on my worst movies I've seen list.


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