Richard Gere plays a wealthy Dallas gynaecologist who treats some of Texas' most affluent women. Dr Sullivan Travis is his official name but he's fondly known as Dr T.

All the neurotic and needy women in his life (relatives and patients) take control of this film and turn the potentially serious and emotive subject of infidelity and divorce into a hilarious lifestyle comedy.

Dr T's perfect life begins to fall apart when his wife Kate (Fawcett) suffers a nervous breakdown and is committed to a psychiatric hospital. His eldest daughter Dee Dee (Hudson) is a closet lesbian but is planning a wedding to a man (although liasing romantically with the maid of honour).

His youngest daughter, Connie (Reid), is a conspiracy theorist freak and his loyal secretary Carolyn (Long) is infatuated with him, and he cannot return her affections.

Dr T finds solace from his hectic and deteriorating home life when he meets golf pro Bree (Hunt), who stands alongside him as he watches his life build to a climactic disaster on the day of his daughter's wedding.

Dr T & The Women is a frenzied and buzzing ensemble film reminiscent of the atmosphere in an all-girls changing room. Menopausal blathering rules the day. This is appropriate, as Gere is practically the only male in a lady-dominated movie.

Conversations throughout the movie revolve around cooking, shopping and planning weddings; it almost makes you feel relieved that you lead a life which consists of work stress, office politics and that nightmare commute!

Regardless of his top billing, Gere does not take centre stage. Amidst this somewhat predictable plot, all the characters take charge and the storyline takes a back seat.

It's a sprawling, rambling film which takes a while to settle into the intelligent script but once it does, the audience will find it easy to discipher the scattered story.

Like Altman's last movie, The Cookie's Fortune, this ensemble piece is witty, wacky and very watcheable. Not much goes awry, apart from Gere's less than perfect Texan accent.