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Robert Altman, according to this film, regards male-female relationships with a spirit of affectionate glee. Dr T (Gere) is very much a man at the centre of a world of women, a gynaecologist who, used to being in complete control, finds his life careering towards chaos: his wife (Farrah Fawcett) becomes super-simple, returning to a state of childlike innocence; his sister-in-law (Laura Dern) has moved in with her three kids (girls, of course); and his daughter (Kate Hudson) - about to be married - receives a visit from a mysterious friend (Liv Tyler). His surgery is a sea of gossiping, pushy, egotistical women. Despite being caught in their swirl, he is always considerate and kind.
Gere, excellent at hinting at the emotional powder-keg beneath the kindness and charm, is easily matched by Helen Hunt (playing a golf pro for whom he falls), an actor gifted at blending vulnerability with lightheartedness. Altman also ensures that even those who are only briefly on the screen come up with pithy, telling performances.
Replacing his familiar multiple story approach with a more conventional style, he still opens the film with one of his trademark bravura shots, in which the camera roves round the surgery, sucking in a wide range of characters and their activities. He also builds in imaginative comic ideas (Farrah Fawcett's syndrome being caused by a surfeit of creature comforts, for example) which - like everything else - he slots in at just the right moment. His timing is perfect.
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