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The Movie:
Director Robert Altman made for a passably entertaining picture with the comedy/drama "Cookie's Fortune" a couple of years ago, but with a larger cast and bigger budget, he is less than successful with "Dr. T and the Women", a story that takes far too long to get started, and never really begins to reach full speed or define it's characters too well.
The film stars Richard Gere as Dr. T, a gynecologist loved by his female patients - as the film opens, we see a legion of patients talking over one another until there's no specific discussion going, just a good deal of noise. Head nurse Carolyn(Shelly Long) becomes the moderator, trying to keep things in gear and the overscheduled doctor going from patient to patient.
Unfortunately for Dr. T, things in his outside life are just as complicated as in his practice. The film starts off with his wife Kate(Farrah Fawcett) having a mental breakdown and ending up dancing nude in a fountain at the local mall. She ends up in a hospital - but that's not all, as Kate's sister(Laura Dern) shows up, and there's a wedding to prepare for oldest daughter Dee Dee(Kate Hudson of "Almost Famous"). To top it all off, a possible new romance emerges with new golf pro Bree (Helen Hunt). Dee Dee also seems rather interested in friend Marilyn(Liv Tyler) and younger sister Connie(Tara Reid) finds herself trying to referee the mess.
And that's just a brief summary of the plot - and that's the problem. There's simply too much going on in the film and it's not handled terribly well. The movie bounces back and forth between topics and storylines in a way that's awkward and fails to engage. It's as if everything in terms of characters and events was written out and then nothing was organized. I suppose the intent is to have it feel as chaotic as Dr. T's life, but this all-over-the-place way of going about the film only serves to make it feel slow.
Acting is mixed, although there's really not one standout as none of the characters are really allowed to develop that far. Gere is fairly low-key, certainly not a bad performance, but not one requiring much effort. Reid, Hudson and Long turn in nice, but minor supporting performances. Hunt has decent chemistry with Gere, although her character is dissapointingly underdeveloped.
With the fun cast and usually great director involved, there's a lot of potential to "Dr. T" that unfortunately isn't allowed to shine. The film runs rather long at just over 2 hours (sitting through the first hour feels like sitting through 2), and had someone edited the film stronger, at least it would have served to pick up the pace, if still maybe not further engage us in some of these characters.
The DVD
VIDEO: Although I'm not usually quite as impressed with Artisan's efforts as I am with some other major studios, I'm rarely ever dissapointed in Artisan's efforts for their bigger releases. "Dr. T" gets a very pleasant looking transfer, offering the film in it's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and it is anamorphic. There seemed to be the slightest touch of softness to the picture now and then, although the majority of the movie was well-defined and crisp, with nice detail and clarity.
Flaws occasionally pop up, although these are slightly noticeable in brief instances and don't consistently effect the viewing experience. A couple of very slight traces of pixelation appear, as well a little bit of edge enhancement. Print flaws are hardly even noticable - there's a speckle or two that can be seen, but certainly nothing enough to take attention away from the movie. A scene or two looked slightly grainy.
Colors are natural and crisp, looking bold and vibrant throughout the movie, especially in some of the bright, outdoor sequences. Slight problems aside, I think this still remains a very good presentation from Artisan.
SOUND: "Dr. T" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and generally sounds very good. The kind of film it is doesn't particularly offer many opportunities for very active sound use, but "Dr. T" at least doesn't remain completely dialogue and music driven. There's some instances of nice audio use as a rainstorm that starts up about 15 minutes into the movie sounds nicely convincing as it envelops the viewer. There's also a very lively thunderstorm towards the film's end that also sounds great.
For most of the film though, the surrounds remain silent. There's a nice, relaxed country score, although it's not used that often throughout the movie. When it does arrive, it has a nice presence and sounds clear and crisp. Dialogue sounds natural with no issues related to harshness or clarity. This is generally what I would expect from a comedy like this one, and the audio is definitely subdued throughout.
MENUS:: Although the sub-menus aren't animated, they're nicely designed. The main menu offers a clip from the movie and there are some animated transitions between the main and sub-menus.
EXTRAS: .
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Robert Altman, screenwriter Anne Rapp, Richard Gere, Shelly Long, Farrah Fawcett, Janine Turner, Tara Reid, Laura Dern, Matt Malloy, Andy Richter, Robert Hays and Wren Arthur. This is a commentary where, obviously, all of these people are recorded separately (it would be as much of a mess as the movie sometimes is to keep them all straight if they were recorded together).
These comments generally are very interesting as the legion of people chat about various subjects that are touched on in the movie (for instance, it starts off talking about Southern society) or details of the production. Some of the comments are not screen-specific, but many of them are - and at least these seem to be recorded as people watch the movie instead of comments taken from interviews. I found many of the participants to be energetic and insightful into the movie; even if I didn't enjoy the movie entirely, participants like Dern, who offers some fun analysis, especially make for entertaining listening. The commentary covers a wide range of topics, from working with Altman to the film's screenplay to acting in general.
With all of the people contributing, there's really hardly anything in the way of pauses and the track is nicely edited as the comments are to the point and don't ramble. People also generally contribute equally, as there's even some interesting comments from Gere on occasion.
"Making Of": This is an 11 minute documentary that takes a mixture of behind-the-scenes clips, interviews and scenes from the movie to present a rather "promotional" look at the making of the movie, talking a lot about the film's story, casting and occasionally, the production.
Trailers/Ads: The film's theatrical trailer (Dolby Digital 5.1) and 5 TV ads for the movie.
Interview With Robert Altman: A fairly slow-moving 15 minute interview with the director, who chats in a low-key fashion about his experiences working on "Dr. T", as well as his thoughts on the casting and story.
Also: Cast/Crew bios, production notes.
Final Thoughts:
Positive: Artisan, as usual, presents respectable audio/video quality, along with nice menus and some extras.
Negative: This is a film where, if you did enjoy the film in the theater, you'll find this DVD edition from Artisan enjoyable. If you haven't seen it, I'd probably recommend skipping it or at the most a rental if you're an Altman fan.
Film Grade
The Film C
DVD Grades
Video 87/B = (348/400 possible points)
Audio: 88/B = (352/400 possible points)
Extras: 85/B = (255/300 possible points)
Menus: 85/B = (170/200 possible points)
Value: 81/B = (243/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1368/1600
DVD GRADE:B/85%
FILM GRADE: C
DVD GRADE: B
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