32 North Shore News - Friday, October 13, 2000

T S in

fi an fal 1S
to cross his

Dr. T and the Women a

. waste of too

‘Dr. Tand the Women
kk (out of 5)
. Directed by Robert -
: Altman, Starring Richard
Gere, Shelley Long, ~
.-Farrah Faweett, Kate
'» Hudson and Laura Dern.

* Robert Altman has’ --
“had a lengthy. but-cre-
_, atively spotty career. - -
His latest, Dr’ T and ©:
the: Women, i is another .:
Altman signature
- ensemble piece, but’
without the wit and

‘timing of i its predeces-.. :

Richard Gere ‘sare’ as
Sullivan “Dr..T”. Travis, - .
treasured Ob/Gyn to the

Dailas uppercrust. He ‘is sur-.. ;

rounded che an all-female |
staff and clieniele, a a wife :

gaggle of empty
headed society, women Who '

Office suggests

that theré* 5 nowhere they'd
her be than

i (I've got news. fo!

I-don’t:

good-looking the:
doc:is: there’s just. no way. to
speculum sexy.

Nevertheless, the hissy-fit

Dr.T:’s waiting r6om.-And

wait they do... for hours, Dr.

T. has ‘as: much impact ‘on his
i; patients”. psychological ail-

many talents

ments as their gynecological

ones. Dr. T’s assistant — ~

Carolyn (Shelley Long, ina

slapstick role) tries vainly to
‘rein the women in and keep

order..." L

Adding to the mounting
chaos in Travis’ life is the

“n-slow mental decline ‘of his

Wife Kate (Farrah Fawcett);
:‘and the impending marriage
of his elder daughter Dee .”
Dee, a Dallas Cowboys

: cheerleading alternate with a-

suspicious choice for maid of
honour. ... *:

“Unfortunately, Faweett’ Ss,

portrayal of Kate gives men-

tal illness a bad name. Kate = |

is suffering from a “Hestia‘
complex,” which apparently

‘:is what happens to rich and

happy women when the
‘Garden: Club gets boring (an
‘interesting concept that is
Pnever fully ex) lored).:

- Faweett’s biggest scene is
“a buck-naked romp through
a'shopping mall fountain. -
(Did Aleman think the audi-
ence. wouldn't catch on to ~
Kate’s fragile mental state if
she were only partially
» clothed? Or did he hate to
waste Fawcett’s natural .

learly at case.
here; and is at his’ most like-
able, in the role of a man
constantly surrounded by
women: Despite the contin:
ual ‘stroking of his ego,
Altman’s Dr.:T has nothing ©
but reverence ‘and tender--

Bur the female a actors
don’t fare as well: Helen

” Hunt as Bree, the golf pro, *

is too emotionally cold for -
us to believe that Dr.:T

ing marriage vows for her.
Laura Dern is capable but
underwritten as Peggy,

Kate’s champagne-swilling
sister, who moves into the

: Travis mansion with her

three toddlers (girls, of
course) in tow,

And back to Dr. T’s
women: never having been
to the Lone Star state |
can't say for certain, but I'm
pretty sure that the portrayal
of every last one of the
women as petty, scheming,
spoiled, vacuous or ven-

omous shopaholics won't sit

well with the women of

Dallas.

And the last scene?

- Without giving anything ~

away I can only say that if it
was intended to, be’ pro- -

- found, it totally ‘missed its
mark.

Ie’s almost as it Altman
looked at the film, thought
it lacked something, and
added the scene for shock/-
water cooler conv ersation
value.

The narrative flows along

nicely enough and the

‘premise is promising, but =
fas cari- |

© “eatures and never elfeit! 90
~much interest from the audi-..
‘ence. A top-notch collection’
“of actors put to waste, and a

- + big disappointment from the

: director of such gems as

the women come o

M*A*S*H and ‘The Player.

“Tabot and Dawson
“Eclectic Acoustic duo:

Oct 20 @ om e

Solas
“Wrish/American traditional band :
is Oct 23. @ 8pm ;

ae “Kenny Werner
“Acclaimed international pianist

: iit t concert with “A” Band & NiteCap

Dec g. @ @ pm

~ 2055 Purcell Way, North Nae
: Box. Office: 990- 7810