Release Date:
10/13/2000
It’s sad when one-time maverick directors settle into mediocrity. Robert Altman’s use of overlapping dialogue used to be considered groundbreaking, now it’s just covering up the fact that he has nothing to say and is happy taking two hours in which to say it. Watching Dr. T and the Women is like standing next to a beautiful woman who’s watching paint dry.
The story, and we use this term liberally, follows Dallas-based gynecologist Dr. Sullivan Travis (Richard Gere), who mumbles and squints a lot—so, of course, the ladies love him. His family life is slowly falling apart around him on the eve of his daughter’s (Kate Hudson) wedding. His wife (Farrah Fawcett) waves “bye-bye” to Planet Reality and gets checked into a mental hospital (anyone who’s seen Ms. Fawcett’s infamous appearance on Late Show with David Letterman will be amused). “Dr. T” takes its sweet time getting to a climax so utterly ridiculous, it actually has to be seen to be believed. But the worst part is that this movie purports to be about a man who loves and respects women, yet it says absolutely nothing about the relationship between the sexes, apart from this: Finding out one’s daughter is a lesbian is apparently much worse a catastrophe than having one’s wife committed.
But, ah, the ladies. There are some pretty faces in this movie, which make it almost watchable. Besides Ms. Hudson, Tara Reid, Janine Turner, Helen Hunt, and Liv Tyler put in appearances. But which one gets naked? Farrah. ’Nuf said. If only this had been Mr. T and the Women, they might have had something.
The story, and we use this term liberally, follows Dallas-based gynecologist Dr. Sullivan Travis (Richard Gere), who mumbles and squints a lot—so, of course, the ladies love him. His family life is slowly falling apart around him on the eve of his daughter’s (Kate Hudson) wedding. His wife (Farrah Fawcett) waves “bye-bye” to Planet Reality and gets checked into a mental hospital (anyone who’s seen Ms. Fawcett’s infamous appearance on Late Show with David Letterman will be amused). “Dr. T” takes its sweet time getting to a climax so utterly ridiculous, it actually has to be seen to be believed. But the worst part is that this movie purports to be about a man who loves and respects women, yet it says absolutely nothing about the relationship between the sexes, apart from this: Finding out one’s daughter is a lesbian is apparently much worse a catastrophe than having one’s wife committed.
But, ah, the ladies. There are some pretty faces in this movie, which make it almost watchable. Besides Ms. Hudson, Tara Reid, Janine Turner, Helen Hunt, and Liv Tyler put in appearances. But which one gets naked? Farrah. ’Nuf said. If only this had been Mr. T and the Women, they might have had something.