Getting through Dr. T and the Women is like paying a visit an emergency room; you can't wait to get out of there but you wait and wait. Robert Altman films are often so filled with characters and plot lines with overlapping dialogue that when they miss the mark it's just as chaotic as an emergency room too. I can’t say I was disappointed because I did not expect too much. It’s a comedy, but it rarely brought a smile to my face. Yes, it had a few moments, but some of the action was simply pathetic. 

Dr. T plies his trade. ©Artisan

     Between Dr. T's nut case wife, the needy patients who can't wait for the next visit to his office, the impending marriage of his daughter, the surprise discovery of her college best friend and the new gold pro, Dr. T is about to go off the waiting room charts. 
     The film ends in a wild ride through a storm that lands Dr. T someplace between Oz and Luis Buñuel. It's just one more unsatisfying moment for me in a film that failed to seduce this viewer with any of the supposed sexual potion that Dr. T managed to entrance his women with.
     Richard Gere plays a GYN like a male worker bee in a nest of buzzing ladies. Sometimes the overlapping dialogue of Altman was simply a headache. Oh yes, the ever present Helen Hunt plays the love interest for Dr. T. She's a golf pro who doesn't look well enough to swing a club much less hoist a bag on her shoulder. Well, maybe she could get Gere to caddy for her. I personally don't get the Helen Hunt phenomenon: a whole lot of people out there must see something in her that I am totally missing. Farah Fawcett finds out what a bathing mall is all about as Dr. T's wife. 
     Dr. T and the Women is a bore. Bring lots of magazines if you want to pay a visit to this waiting room of a movie.  Altman’s is afloat in a see of would-be comic waters except he’s certainly out of synch with my sense of humor. The most popular GYN is Texas simply doesn’t make it for me and in fact, I found much more pathos in the film than was meant to be.
    Well, at least the DVD looks real good. You won't miss a detail of the production. It's sharp from end to end and top to bottom. There's no edge enhancement. Colors are accurate. The mall scenes pack plenty of pizzazz and overall light output is excellent. Interior and exterior light levels are nicely balanced. Skin tones are captured in a wide and natural range. There are no noticeable artifacts to disturb the overall cleanliness of the DVD. The dialogue and musical is presented with clarity in Dolby Digital 5:1.
    Presented as a special edition, you'll get a better understanding of what Altman and company had in mind if you listen to the audio commentary. There's also a video interview with Altman, a featurette, and production notes. 

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