Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A waste of acting talent, February 13, 2001
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.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific cast wasted on a horrible plot!, February 12, 2001
Disappointment is the only word that comes to mind while writing this review. I had such high hopes for this ensemble piece including such favorites as Helen Hunt and Richard Gere and rising starlets Tara Reid and Kate Hudson. I liked the setting, the characters, and the basic idea. The movie just didn't live up to its potential. All we see is a bunch of scenes from Dr. T's life. We observe the many eccentric characters of Dr. T's family--Tara Reid as the JFK conspiracy-obsessed daughter, Kate Hudson as the Dallas Cowboys wannabe cheerleader/lesbian daughter, and Laura Dern as the drunk, crazy hat-wearing sister-in-law. Most pathetic in the family is Dr. T's wife (Farrah Fawcett), a woman who suffers from the Hestia complex and has consequently reverted to childlike behavior. She supposedly suffers from this complex due to the "overwhelming amount of affection her husband has shown her." I find this hard to believe, since Dr. T's daughters can hardly have five minutes of conversation with him without some kind of distraction. The only redeeming quality of the film is Dr. T's hilarious nurse, Shelly Long. The scenes in the waiting room are top-notch! Total chaos and LOUDNESS abound the room as Shelly Long tries to keep the "fillies from getting restless". Even funnier are the number of women fighting to be the first in line for Dr. T's gynecological equipment! Yet, even these few humorous scenes aren't enought to save this film from drowning. The final scene does not even attempt to wrap up this movie. In the end, we're merely left with a bunch of interesting acquaintances and even though the movie is pretty horrible, we can only hope for a sequal to wrap up this unfinished mess.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Less than average for Altman, December 12, 2000
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.
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