I have seen so many negative reviews of this movie that I must comment. I have noted that most of the negative reviews have come from people who do not know the work of the director, Robert Altman, or from people who know and loathe the work of the same. I consider Altman a genre unto himself. In each movie he does, he creates characters which are too broadly drawn to be believed, so if the viewer is into "realism" s/he is out of luck. I submit that many of the negative reviewers would hate any Altman movie they saw based on lack of "reality"; hence, they might as well disqualify themselves as objective reviewers. For them to say this movie is bad, would be equivalent to my saying any given horror flick, no matter how well made, is bad just because I hate horror flicks. It is unfair criticism.
Given the above, I, a lover of Altman, will attempt to compare Dr. T to two of the best of Altman's milieu, Short Cuts, and Nashville. What I love about Altman's movies is that each character is an archetype, and his movies are a psychological study of what happens when archetypes collide.
In Short Cuts, different sets of archetypes collide to create disaster. I love that movie because the main theme, that disaster occurs when one takes a short cut, is illustrated in several different ways with several different sets of archetypes.
In Nashville, the archetypes are satires of the country-music industry. I don't believe there is any one main theme in Nashville, which is not as satisfying to me as Short Cuts' focus on one theme, but, in Nashville the characters Altman draws are so quirky and interesting that it comes a close second as my favorite Altman movie.
Now, we come to Dr. T. This movie, unlike most of Altman's movies, focuses on one character, Dr. T. The psychological study is how the thinly-drawn female archetypes affect the richly-drawn main character. Dr. T is a guy who loves women, but mistakenly, as the events in the movie point out, puts them on a pedestal. In the short term, he is very popular with women, but, eventually, his attitude catches up with him. His wife descends into a childlike state, because, according to a psychiatrist, she has been pampered too much. His daughters, with whom, he has taken the role of provider and moral compass, in the end, decide that they can make decisions for themselves, and abandon him. And, his love interest does not want to be 'taken care of', thank you. Dr. T remains confused about women even after all of this has happened to him. So much so, that at the end of the movie, when he delivers a baby boy, he rejoices. Finally, someone arrives who will make sense to him.
I didn't like this movie as much as the rest of Altman's because there is so much focus on Dr. T. I would have liked to have seen either more detail in the female characters (which would make this movie more like Nashville in the richly drawn characters), or, alternatively, I would like to see other plotlines which are independent of Dr. T, but which are tied together at the end of the movie to illustrate a similar theme (which would make this movie more like Short Cuts).
But to say this movie is bad just because the characters are unrealistic, is missing the point. That's Altman.
Given the above, I, a lover of Altman, will attempt to compare Dr. T to two of the best of Altman's milieu, Short Cuts, and Nashville. What I love about Altman's movies is that each character is an archetype, and his movies are a psychological study of what happens when archetypes collide.
In Short Cuts, different sets of archetypes collide to create disaster. I love that movie because the main theme, that disaster occurs when one takes a short cut, is illustrated in several different ways with several different sets of archetypes.
In Nashville, the archetypes are satires of the country-music industry. I don't believe there is any one main theme in Nashville, which is not as satisfying to me as Short Cuts' focus on one theme, but, in Nashville the characters Altman draws are so quirky and interesting that it comes a close second as my favorite Altman movie.
Now, we come to Dr. T. This movie, unlike most of Altman's movies, focuses on one character, Dr. T. The psychological study is how the thinly-drawn female archetypes affect the richly-drawn main character. Dr. T is a guy who loves women, but mistakenly, as the events in the movie point out, puts them on a pedestal. In the short term, he is very popular with women, but, eventually, his attitude catches up with him. His wife descends into a childlike state, because, according to a psychiatrist, she has been pampered too much. His daughters, with whom, he has taken the role of provider and moral compass, in the end, decide that they can make decisions for themselves, and abandon him. And, his love interest does not want to be 'taken care of', thank you. Dr. T remains confused about women even after all of this has happened to him. So much so, that at the end of the movie, when he delivers a baby boy, he rejoices. Finally, someone arrives who will make sense to him.
I didn't like this movie as much as the rest of Altman's because there is so much focus on Dr. T. I would have liked to have seen either more detail in the female characters (which would make this movie more like Nashville in the richly drawn characters), or, alternatively, I would like to see other plotlines which are independent of Dr. T, but which are tied together at the end of the movie to illustrate a similar theme (which would make this movie more like Short Cuts).
But to say this movie is bad just because the characters are unrealistic, is missing the point. That's Altman.
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