Dr. T and the Women

This film promises so much at the outset and ends up boiling down to much ado about nothing. Richard Gere is excellent as a Texan gynecologist who is just so suave his clients can't keep away from him. These are the least of his female problems though! His wife (Farrah Fawcett) has had a nervous breakdown and resorted to a childlike state, his sister (Laura Dern, who is by far the best performance in the film) has found the cure for her depression over her divorce is in the bottle, his one daughter (Tara Reid) is obsessed with conspiracy theories and his other daughter (Kate Hudson) is getting married in a week but seems more interested in her maid of honour (Liv Tyler) than her intended husband. Along comes Helen Hunt as a the golf club employee with the least complicated life who automatically appeals to him. Anne Rapp's script seems poised on pointing out the fact that men like Dr. T don't understand the women around them because they regard them so highly as women that they worship and not the people with whom they share a planet (at one point Gere delivers a line that says something along the lines of `All women are sacred in their own special way and should be treated as such…' not realizing that this is patronizing and probably why his wife gone insane and his daughters don't really know him), but she never lets the crux of this boil over well enough. Instead, director Robert Altman gives the film the worst ending in history that completely deviates from the entire tone of the film and serves only to enrage his audience. Shelley Long has a hilarious supporting role as Dr. T's secretary.

If you sit down to this movie expecting your average romantic comedy you're going to come away, as many of the reviewers here did, befuddled and probably seriously disappointed. I'm no high-art film critic, but I had the advance warning, of sorts, of having watched the previews on the VHS edition of this movie (of all things), which let me know not to expect anything ordinary from it. Plus it's Robert Altman, right? So I went into it expecting not to take things at face value -- and that's what you have to do to enjoy this movie. The idea is that you have this man who treats women with love, respect, and chivalry. He is surrounded by demanding women all day long, and yet the focus on the individual patients whose encounters with him we witness shows the truth of something he says to his friends: every woman is unique. And then we see the different ways in which the women respond: His office manager falls in love with him. His patients demand more and more (and are very well-directed). His wife goes insane because she's loved too much (a diagnosis as obviously unrealistic as hers HAS to have been written into the story for a reason). His daughters rely on him, shock him, disappoint him. His sister-in-law takes advantage of his hospitality while drinking herself into a stupor. His girlfriend (who is kind of a man's woman) rejects his chivalrous overtures ("I'll do it! I'll get it!"), is the only self-sufficient woman in the film, and ultimately rejects his offer for an interdependent relationship. All these combine to create a world whose stresses pile up until a surreal conclusion whisks Dr. T away to a completely different world... where straight away he's put back to work, and he delivers a boy. And who can blame him for being relieved.

Overall this is a movie I'm glad I saw once; it was an interesting experience. Kudos to Richard Gere for probably the best acting I've ever seen him do.

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.

Robert Altman appreciates women. It shows in his movies; women are often the main characters, and his films offer up a variety of interesting roles for actresses. Dr. T and the Women is almost entirely about women, modern day wealthy Texas women. Richard Gere plays Dr. Sully Travis a very successful and popular Dallas gynecologist. Not only is he surrounded by women all day at work, but his family consists entirely of women. Only a couple of male buddies enter into his closed, female dominated life. And like all good Altman movies there are plenty of quirky characters and intersecting plotlines.

The problem is that the plotlines aren't that interesting or original. Dr. T's wife develops a rare mental disorder that affects only the wealthy, and must be institutionalized. The new female golf pro comes on to Dr. T, as does his nurse. His soon-to-be-married daughter is slowly realizing that she may be a lesbian. And so on.

For Altman fans, Dr. T and the Women is not a bad rental. The director has done better, but it's still Altman. Others, less interested, might want to give this a pass.

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.