B-Movies: Trixie • Dr. T and the Women

B-Movies & Couch Classics
Reviews of movies Often Overlooked or Forgotten

by Arik Ben Treston

Trixie
Columbia/TriStar Home Video, 2000

Alan Rudolph has had an odd career as a filmmaker. As a protégé of Robert Altman (Nashville, The Player, M*A*S*H), Rudolph has honed his skills towards making offbeat and daring films (Afterglow, Mortal Thoughts, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle) but recently these haven’t always worked in his favor. His 1998 bombastic explosive dynamite of a bomb, Breakfast of Champions, failed miserably with both critics and audiences (though I’m the only one who gave it a good review — what does that say about me?) His latest film is Trixie, a jumbled mess of a movie that entertains nonetheless. British actress Emily Watson (Hillary & Jackie, Breaking the Waves) plays Trixie Zurbo, a Chicago-bred rent-a-cop who takes a job as an undercover security guard in a small lakefront casino in some unknown state.

Her biggest problem occurs every time she decides to say something — anything. She is the queen of malapropism (such as uttering “grab the bull by the tail,” in one of her milder manglings). Joining her in this surreal world is Rudolph regular Nick Nolte as a Senator with some questionable ethics. Nathan Lane also appears as the advice-giving casino lounge singer. Brittany Murphy (Girl, Interrupted) shows up as an underage girl still in love with Dex (Dermott Mulroney), the womanizer who takes a shine to Trixie. Red Rafferty (Will Patton) is the town bigwig who employs Dex as his jack-of-all-trades (or “Jackal-of-all-trades” as Trixie puts it). Red has business deals going on and one of them has to do with the Senator. When Dex romantically pursues Trixie, she begins to get entangled in the mystery surrounding Dawn Sloane (Lesley Ann Warren), Red’s girl who skips town for unknown reasons. Trixie’s investigative snooping gets her into trouble as she continues to push every open avenue, including harassing the Senator.

To get too involved in describing the story is almost a moot point because there isn’t much of a coherent plot happening here. The fun in watching this mess is that we are transported (as in Breakfast) into Rudolph’s surreal world where you just accept that people act and talk differently. That’s the key to being able to watch and more importantly, enjoy his films. Rudolph elicits the exact performances he needs from these actors and they seem to grasp the offbeat way they need to play their characters. To watch his (recent) films, you must be open to experiencing something that isn’t the norm, that doesn’t conform to the exact edicts of what these kinds of film should be, and that’s just fine once in a while.

Dr. T and The Women
Artisan, 2000

Since we covered a film by the protégé, let’s go over a new one from the master. Robert Altman’s latest film is the delightfully abnormal Dr. T and the Women. Richard Gere stars as Dr. Sullivan Travis, a very popular Dallas gynecologist who has, to put it mildly, women trouble. The breakdown: There is Kate the wife, (Farrah Fawcett) who is going cuckoo (isn’t that a medical term?) and reverting to childhood; Dee Dee the daughter who is getting married (Kate Hudson, Almost Famous) and Connie, her sister who isn’t so sure about it (Tara Reid, American Pie); Peggy, Dr. T’s drinky-drinky sister-in-law who is staying at his house; Carolyn (Shelley Long — in top form and back from movie purgatory), who is Dr. T’s head nurse and traffic controller in the madness of his office; and, lastly, there is Bree, a new golf pro played by Helen Hunt. All these women (plus the daily influx of wildcats that chatter and shriek away in Dr. T’s office) are a big problem for the doc. His dilemma? He’s surrounded by too many women, and not even all his hunting and golf excursions with his buddies are enough to balance this world of women. While he keeps his sanity, everything around him is going insane.

Altman, with his signature overlapping dialogue and free-style attitude, doesn’t always hit the mark here (especially towards the strange last act), but you always know the journey that you take with him will be unusual and entertaining. He ably captures the affluent Dallas suburb and its unique inhabitants.

Gere fits this role as snuggly as a foot placed in a stirrup in his office. This is the best role he’s had in years and hopefully he will continue to find similar ones that utilize his comedic talents this way and this well. Hunt is equally well cast and they pair up wonderfully on screen. Her independent spirit and strength balance the lunacy that surrounds these two characters.

The film translates nicely to the medium of television. With its ensemble sitcomish feel, it fits perfectly on the home screen. Altman hasn’t always hit the target (Ready To Wear, nee Prêt-à-Porter, and Gingerbread Man most recently), and this one goes pretty far a field at times, but like Trixie it’s the ride that holds your attention and keeps things interesting. As a triple-bill, you should also rent Altman’s 1999 film Cookie’s Fortune which shares many of the same flaws and eccentricities but still works as a joyful change from the usual rote structured style.