`What's up Doc?' I will tell you what is up! Set your appointment book and schedule a visit to see `Dr. T & The Women'- the latest film by Director Robert Altman. Richard Gere stars as a gynecologist who must deal with the neurotic women in his life: a mentally-impaired childlike wife, a witty golf pro mistress, a champagne sipping sister, a lesbian daughter, a kennedy-assassination obsessed control freak daughter, and of course his hypochondriac-impatient patients. The film is full of `altmanrisms'- an overlapping dialogue, a catastrophic occurrence in a public event, and of course satirical viewpoints of a certain profession. Gere saves his career again with a remarkable performance. However, it was Laura Dern's work as the champagne sipping sister that still hungover in my mind after I watched the movie. It was a very critical condition that academy award voters overlooked her brilliant acting. Altman again is able to get some well-known actors to appear in his movies- Farrah Fawcett, Helen Hunt, Tara Reid, Liv Tyler, Kate Hudson, and Shelley Long are the other female players involved in this one. The one headache I had with `Dr T. & The Women' was the somber characterizations of Dr. T's male buddies. These characters should have been rescheduled to another movie. All in all, Director Robert Altman (in my viewpoint one of the smartest directors of all time) was able to complete a successful cinematic operation on `Dr T. & The Women.' So take two hours, go see this movie, and call me in the morning. **** Good

Dr. Sullivan Travis (Richard Gere) is a wealthy Dallas gynecologist for some of the wealthiest women in Texas who finds his idealist life beginning to fall apart starting when his wife, Kate (Farrah Fawcett),suffers a nervous breakdown and is committed to the state mental hospital.

Among Robert Altman's films, this is considered among his worst. In all fairness, it is not that bad and is probably more misunderstood than anything else. Gere may have a very limited acting range, but he filled the role well. Even Tara Reid, no great actress, shows us she has the ability to be a decent support.

This is the sort of film that makes me want to watch it over and over again just to champion it. Not that it is amazing, but just because it is not the worst of his pictures and needs to be evaluated again.

With "Nashville" and "The Player", Robert Altman did exposes of Nashville and Hollywood, respectively. With "Dr T and the Women", he does an expose of Dallas. Richard Gere plays gynecologist Sullivan Travis, always surrounded by women. But this plethora of females may be about to change his life beyond anyone's wildest imagination.

The first scene of Farrah Fawcett is really likely to blow your mind, and the scene in Dealey Plaza does make one think about just what did happen on November 22, 1963. But overall, we get a pretty scathing look at Dallas (which I've heard is deserved). Fawcett, Helen Hunt, Shelley Long, Kate Hudson, Tara Reid, Liv Tyler, and Lee Grant all play what may be the most interesting collection of women that I've ever seen in a movie. Certainly this is one of Richard Gere's most interesting roles ever. I think that the end implies that he died and went to heaven.

And since it's an Altman movie, it means that everyone's talking at once.