Director Robert Altman's thought-provoking film revolves around a handsome and happily married man who views women as "saints who should be treated as such." No wonder he is the most popular gynecologist in Dallas, Texas. This drama is targeted at those men who still think that what women are really looking for is a strong provider who will take care of them. In fact, the whole film could be seen as a meditation upon the following point made by Jane O'Reilly in the book The Girl I Left Behind: "What do I want? I want to share my life. . . . I want to have a place in someone's life. I want stability, cooperation, and commitment. What I do not want: to be supported, to be given an identity, to have my dog walked. I don't need someone else to give me security."

Dr. T (Richard Gere) is gliding along quite smoothly in his affluent life when the tranquility of his home is shattered by three events: the arrival of Peggy (Laura Dern), his alcoholic sister-in-law, and her three young children; the complications arising out of the preparations for the upcoming wedding of his daughter Dee Dee (Kate Hudson); and the mental breakdown and institutionalization of his wife Kate (Farrah Fawcett). The only one who sees clearly what's going on is Dr. T's much ignored other daughter Annie (Tara Reid) who works as a tour guide for the Conspiracy Museum, a place dedicated to a different version of the Kennedy Assassination than the one given by the Warren Commission.

In the midst of all this chaos, Dr. T is swept off his feet by Bree (Helen Hunt), the new country club golf pro whose startling candor, independence, and charm is quite unnerving. He has sex with her and then when his wife seeks a divorce, Dr. T proposes to Bree only to have all of his presuppositions about women and what they want rocked.

This relaxed drama rambles in true Altman fashion and boasts some delightful performances by Shelley Long as Dr. T's loyal office manager, Lee Grant as a literary psychologist, and Janine Turner as an unhappily married woman who pesters Dr. T with unscheduled visits. The screenplay by Anne Rapp (Cookie's Fortune) presents many interesting observations on sexual politics.