‘Dr. T and the Women’

Although I’m a fan of Christopher Smith’s film reviews, I must take exception with his harsh assessment of director Robert Altman’s latest release, “Dr. T and the Women” (BDN, Dec. 7).

It’s been an especially lamentable year at the neighborhood cineplex which is why an adventuresome and provocative movie like “Dr. T and the Women” should be greeted with much greater enthusiasm. Smith glibly dismisses the entire movie as a “vanity piece” catering to the presence of Richard Gere. The movie I saw featured a restrained Gere as the stabilizing centerpiece of a large and vigorous ensemble (including Shelley Long’s adept comedic turn as Dr. T’s unflagging assistant).

Smith bemoans “the film’s several gratuitous nude scenes” which seemed fleeting and germane to this viewer. Your ordinarily perceptive critic focuses on peripheral skin while missing the clever allusions to George Cukor’s classic “The Women” (1939) and Altman’s own “A Wedding” (1978).

While I acknowledge that “Dr. T and the Women” is overlong and flawed by some sketchy characterizations, it’s the only recent film that’s reverberated in this moviegoer’s memory all year long.

Mark Griffin

Lewiston