# Dr. T & the Women (2000)

### reviewed by
Jerry Saravia

The last half-hour of "Dr. T and the Women," Robert Altman's latest film, is so cheery, funny and unexpected that it is a temptation to recommend the film based solely on its bright finish. Unfortunately, the backbone of the film is so pedestrian and thin that you are left wondering if Altman has lost his sense of pacing and, dare I say, motivation.

Dr. T is Dr. "Sully" Travis (Richard Gere), a gynecologist who runs a busy office full of patients who stem from the upper-class regions of Dallas. In fact, all women in this film are upper-class, as are the men. Dr. T's personal life is in complete disarray, which perfectly complements his active office life. His wife, Kate (Farrah Fawcet), has been institutionalized as a result of dancing naked on a water fountain at the local mall! Her disease is a rare ailment known as "Hetsian" disorder, where an upper-class woman blacks out from too much love (I wonder if such an ailment exists named after a Greek Goddess). Too add insult to injury, Dr. T's cheerleading daughter, Dee Dee (Kate Hudson), is about to get married yet she may also have a secret admirer. Dr. T discovers this secret through his other daughter, the conspiracy nut and tour guide Connie (Tara Reid) who uses her cell phone as if it was attached to her ear.

Wait, there is more. Dr. T's alcoholic sister-in-law, Peggy (Laura Dern), has moved in to his house with her three daughters, and also adorns a cell phone. At Dr. T's golf club, a golf pro, Bree (Helen Hunt), romances him and teaches him a golf swing or two in the process. And finally, there is nurse Carolyn (Shelley Long), who wants the good doctor for herself and senses she can provide what he is missing in his own life, particularly sex.

It is clear from the onset that Dr. T loves and cares for women, and he may love some of them too much, such as his troubling wife. Altman, however, suggests that his wife, Kate, may be unhappy or unfulfilled in her life or seeking attention - dancing nude in a public area doesn't necessarily mean that you are loved too much. But T is oblivious to all women beyond what he thinks they need, namely love and compassion. In the end, he finds that with Bree, love and compassion are only temporary.

There is a potentially winning character study in Dr. T but it is buried, and thus burdened, by endless scenes of champage drinking, chats on cell phones, anxious women in the waiting room of Dr. T's office, and so on. There is little evidence here of Altman's strong character types from films such as "Short Cuts" or the recent "Cookie's Fortune" - the upper-class women here are depicted as mostly hollow Southern caricatures. Fawcet is mostly left on the cutting-room floor, barely alive in any scene she is in - I know she is supposed to be disoriented but that is not enough for a robotic performance. Laura Dern merely embarrases herself, acting clumsy and disoriented as well. At least, Kate Hudson and Tara Reid rise above their thin portrayals with some gusto.

The best performance in the film is Richard Gere's - his effortless charisma and good looks do not mask his portrayal of Dr. T as a modest, winsome man, trying his best not to be overwhelmed by his family and overzealous patients, who demand his attention. Gere's scenes with Helen Hunt are among the most alive in the entire film - a winning movie star combo that recalls Hunt's radiance when paired with Jack Nicholson in "As Good as it Gets."

Still, "Dr. T and the Women" starts off with a whimper and never quite recovers until the last thirty minutes with a midly comical tone that manifests in a truly strange whirlwind of events. It is offputting, however, how Altman stages his scenes in the first half of the film without any pizzazz or wit to speak of - even his vintage overlapping dialogue grows wearisome. "Dr. T and the Women" is bereft of humor, emotion or drama - only Gere brings some pathos but for strict Altman fans, that may not be enough.

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E-mail me with any questions, comments or general complaints at Faust667@aol.com or at jerry@movieluver.com

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