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Dr. T and the Women
Sorry, this
limited-release DVD is no longer for sale.
The Film :
With star power from here to TV and back, it's surprising how flawed Dr.
T and the Women truly is. Richard Gere, Helen Hunt, Laura Dern,
Kate Hudson, Farrah Fawcett, Andy Richter, Janine Turner, Shelly Long, and
Liv Tyler are just a small portion of names in this impressive ensemble
cast. However, it's quality writing that makes or breaks any film, and
therein lies Dr. T's biggest flaw, with perplexing plot
motives, and an even more oddball finale.
The story involves Dr. T. (Gere), who is one of the most popular
gynecologists in all of Texas. Women go to him for physicals --no matter
how uncomfortable the physical may be-- just because he's such a good listener, and, heck, he looks
like Richard Gere! However, with his attention so involved in his work,
he's overlooking some serious problems at home, including a daughter
(Hudson) who may or may not be coming out of the closet, another daughter
(Dern) with a possible drinking problem, a third (American
Pie's Tara Reid) whose job is to conduct tours of where JFK
was assassinated, and a wife (Fawcett) who has a mental problem. In time,
he opens his eyes to the bigger picture...though at what cost?
As he discovers these family crisis little by little, he becomes more distanced
from his seemingly "perfect" Doctor's life. His only time for
solace is in the arms of an apparent golf groupie (Hunt), who's actually
willing to listen to him for a change, though probably only wants him for
sex. While spending more time with her and his family, his office becomes
more and more in disarray, resulting in an injury in his waiting room
that, in real life, would probably lead to a multi-million dollar lawsuit.
All this comes to a boil near the end of the picture, when his possible-lesbian
daughter walking down the aisle to marry her male fiancée...with her
lesbian lover as maid of honor! The result is predictable.
The biggest problem with this film seems to be finding out what the
message here truly is. With men portrayed as mere "trophy
husbands" who go hunting on weekends, it seems to want to be feminist
in its approach. Then comes its views of women, with their many problems, so desperate to have Dr. T. comfort them; chauvinist undertones, to
say the least. With so much (surprising) nudity from Fawcett, Hunt, and
even a semi-nude scene by TV's Janine Turner, it seems to want to appeal
to the boys in the audience. However, with all its whining of feminine
problems hither and thither, it seems to want to be a "chick
flick" at the same time. Make up your minds, scriptwriters!
If the finale of the film was set at the wedding --with a perfect close
up of Gere smiling at his chaotic-yet-acceptable life-- this film would be
acceptable, if just because of its acting performances (even Shelly Long,
who I haven't seen in film for a while, performs excellently here). Instead, it adds a few bizarre minutes to the mix, with a finale
that seems ludicrous even by fantasy standards. Such endings are common in
poor film making, and are what I often like to call "The
Scarlet Pumpernickel Finale." Much like the Daffy Duck
cartoon of the same name --yet wanting to be taken seriously!-- these
finales seem like memos tacked onto the end of a script, with no idea of
how to end a decent film. Without such a tacked-on ending, this
film's top-notch cast and performances would demand a (marginal)
thumbs-up. With such a finale, you're left scratching your head,
with the only feeling being even more obvious; given such a
finale, it wasn't worth the time to get there.
The DVD :
Well, the DVD does have an intriguing commentary track, including input
from many cast members as well as the crew. Most of the acting talent,
however, goes a little overboard when using their commentary time to
flatter Director Robert Altman. It's like many of the actresses, in
particular, wanted to cryptically excuse their nude scenes in the film by
saying, hey, the film's director was Robert Altman! Sure, whatever, though
I'd prefer a few more anecdotes than director flattery.
There is a behind the scenes featurette,
and an interview with the great man (Altman) as well. This will probably
all lead to the inevitable question that the film leads to, even all by
itself; how could a film with so many great names, and director Altman
behind the camera, lead to such a flawed film? I'd blame it on the finale;
certainly not the acting talent, at least, who each gave their parts their all.
Perhaps the story itself, though, could have had that extra rewrite for
improvement. In any case, there's not enough on this DVD to sway anyone's
opinion of the film, one way or another...and my marginal-thumbs-down
still stands.
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