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In this comedy with a message, Richard Gere plays Dr. Sullivan Travis, a gynecologist most
sought after by his patients for his sympathetic ways. His world is filled with women—wife Kate (Farrah Fawcett) and two daughters, sister-in law Peggy (Laura Dern) and
three nieces, his nursing staff led by Carolyn (Shelley Long), a never-ending stream of patients from upper-crust Dallas society, and accidental lover Bree (Helen Hunt). The
drama begins when wife Kate succumbs to "Hestia complex," a newly discovered mental disorder affecting affluent women who have everything and are loved too much; the victim
regresses into a childlike state until she gets to reject even sexual intimacy with her husband "because it is not nice." Kate is taken to a psychiatric hospital, and when it
becomes clear that she will have to stay there for the rest of her life, Dr. T in his vulnerability falls for Bree (Helen Hunt), an independent-minded golf pro who seems
different from all the painted, perfumed, bejeweled and expensively clad women who daily clamor for his attention. Like a befuddled prisoner in his own palace, Dr. T is
further wearied by his discovery that his soon-to-be-married daughter Dee Dee (Kate Hudson) is a lesbian.
Seeing the movie's trailer you assume that the dashing Richard Gere playing a gynecologist is
a sex fiend who turns his clinic into a harem. Prepare for a shock. This is Gere's nicest role so far, and he plays it with sensitivity, charm and a touch of bemusement over
the complexity of women. Although Gere is frequently shown with the patients on the examination table, sometimes with his head shot between a woman's thighs, the actor's face
exudes sweetness and empathy for Dr. T's patients—a "natural" as healer of women. Dr. T truly loves and is faithful to his wife, he cares for his daughters, he trusts his
staff, he is genuinely concerned with his patients, and he is attracted to another woman because of her strength, not her sex.
Although at first glance the movie might look contemptuous of women, a more attentive viewing
of it would make you conclude that it is actually a documentary on women. Its characters exist in real life, and its director—ably assisted by a woman writer—actually
attempts to elicit sympathy for women. (It is said that the movie could be autobiographical, because Altman in his personal life is inseparable from his wife, Katherine, and
is surrounded with women writers, producers and colleagues. Actresses have also been said to seek Altman's sets when most movies offer no interesting roles for women,
since he has become famous for films focusing on women). Dr. T and the Women is a philosopher clad in a clown's costume. Altman disguises as comedy a matter that should
be examined with utmost seriousness: the needs of women as human beings, not just as females in a male-dominated society. Dr. T's patients belong to the shopping classes of
filthy rich Dallas—a city with no river, shore or mountains. Wives of "successful husbands," they have nothing but upscale shopping malls to go for solace. For them "work"
means plastic surgery, not labor. When a woman's life is like that, she flips—look what happened to Kate. The movie is a web of stories and characters but Altman and
Rapp succeed in holding everything together through Gere's character: Dr. T is a good man with a dutiful conscience, competent at his job and holding on despite Freud's
unanswerable question, "What do women want?"Another thing: the movie shows that fidelity is possible, that not all men are sex maniacs who will jump at the sight of a
cleavage. Women will enjoy watching this movie; men will learn from it.
(Date reviewed: June 22, 2001)
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