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BluRay/DVD Reviews

DR. T AND THE WOMEN

By • Nov 20th, 2001 •

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(Artisan) 122 min. 16:9 Widescreen Version, 5.1 Dolby Digital

NOT RECOMMENDED

The Dr. T & The Women DVD contains three worthwhile features, all of which are, paradoxically, unbearable to sit through.

The highlight of the disc is the commentary track which features twelve voices: Robert Altman, Anne Rapp, Richard Gere, Shelley Long, Farrah Fawcett, Janine Turner, Tara Reid, Laura Dern, Matt Malloy, Andy Richter, Robert Hays, and Wren Arthur. Sounds great right? Not one of these people are focused on the film, all they do is ramble. I’ll give you an example. The track begins with Dern discussing how important the costumes were while all we see is a black screen with credits. By the time we see the costumes in question the track has already moved on to Anne Rapp discussing her description of Dallas women. None of the actors talk about the scenes we’re watching, they just take turns praising Altman’s genius, and his love for women.

Among the only comments I found interesting were those from Fawcett and Long. Both of them talk in depth about scenes they had trouble with; Fawcett’s public nude scene, and Long’s seduction scene. Another moment of interest was Gere and Altman’s take on the film’s controversial ending. I had a lot of trouble with the ending, but their comments enabled me to appreciate it.

The featurette is ten minutes long, and once again contains interview after interview with various actresses telling us how much Altman loves women. It’s important to note that the DVD box simply says featurette, but the special features menu calls this “The Making of Dr. T and the Women”. This could hardly be called a “making of” documentary. Apparantly Artisan feels justified in naming it that because they inserted about five shots of Altman standing near the camera. Oh wait, I think I heard him say “ACTION” once, or twice.

As for the interview with Altman himself, he has a few insightful comments, but by the time you reach them it’s just too little too late. Besides, at this point the cast has already beaten it into our heads how much Altman loves women, I didn’t need to hear it from him.

DVD Features:
Commentary with Cast and Crew, Featurette, Interview with Robert Altman.

Credits:
Directed by Robert Altman
Sreenplay by Anne Rapp

Cast:
Richard Gere, Helen Hunt, Farrah Fawcett, Laura Dern, Shelley Long, Tara Reid, Kate Hudson, Liv Tyler.

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