What Women Want

Mel Gibson is known as sort of a macho action hero, and stereotyped into his Mad Max/Martin Riggs persona. But I've noticed (except for "Braveheart" and "The Patriot") he injects comic relief into almost anything he does. So doing a straight comedy doesn't seem like much of a stretch, and as you watch in a movie like this Gibson's timing and delivery is impeccable. On and off the camera, he has an incredible sense of humor, and he probably improvised some featured gags.

The premise is very original and interesting. A guy who can hear a woman's every thought? That's pretty much every man's fantasy. And the premise is used wisely. I laughed the whole way through! It's hilarious to watch Gibson emasculating himself by the minute, and the joke never runs dry.

I was laughing so much that I was able to tolerate the film's corny ending. I mean, when is a romantic comedy going to come along that doesn't feature a formulaic ending that is supposed to make people leave the theater and go "Awwww"?

The supporting cast is full of big stars. Bette Midler has an amusing cameo as a chain-smoking shrink. I only wish she could've had some additional scenes.

"What Women Want" is an original, feel-good comedy that will have you on the floor! This not a "chick flick." If you want to laugh--this is the movie to see! No questions asked!

My score: 8 (out of 10)

The film What Women Want is about a man, Nick Marshall (Mel Gibson), who has been characterized as a 'man's man,' a male who is the type of guy that other men look up to. Darcy Maguire (Helen Hunt) also stars and sends Marshall into a male power trip when she is offered a job position that he was trying so hard to get. Marshall is known for his ability to seduce women and fornicate with them. Most of the women in his life think that he is a self centered jerk, because of the way he objectifies them. Even his fifteen year old daughter feels as if they are not related because of his poor communication skills with women. But an unexpected twist took place one day while blow drying mousse in his hair. While he was going about his business, Marshall tripped, and fell into his bathtub full of water, being electrocuted severely. Oddly enough, what would kill a normal human being did not harm Nick in any way, rather than it mysteriously gave him the power to hear what women are thinking. So, equipped with his new skill, he goes about his day, not knowing he has this amazing ability. Throughout his random encounters with women, particularly at work, he comes to realize that all the women are not very fond of him.

In all movies, there is always a message of some sort that the director is trying to express. In this particular film, I believe there is more than one message. One of the dilemmas the movie expressed was women do not know what they want. Throughout the movie, women were constantly complaining about men, or their hair, or their outfit. The truth is that women do not know what they do want; only what they don't want. Another message it displayed is a world renown problem: the concept that men do not have a clue about women. They communicate differently as men, and want different things as well. Is reading women's minds the only way for men to understand? I sure hope not.

The technique of this movie is nothing to throw a fit over. The average cinematography isn't dazzling, but it is good enough to keep the viewer interested. The sound track was well thought out, with many famous songs helping out in several scenes and strongly assisting in setting the mood. A few things stand out in the movie that question reality. For example, Gibson falls into a full bathtub, gets electrocuted by thousands of volts, and only wakes up with a headache. At a different point in the movie he gets shocked again, but not by a household utensil. The second time it's by lightning, and again, just a headache. No singed eyebrows or fried shoelaces were to be found.

What Women Want is an entertaining movie at the least. Mel Gibson, as always, does an excellent job portraying his character, as well as Helen Hunt. The cast did a well-rounded job, and no one was out of place. I enjoyed the movie thoroughly and enjoyed the humor. The film was filled with talented acting, laughs, and lighthearted suspense. It would be a good recommendation for anyone who is bored and desires a humorous, fun movie. The idea of a man being able to read women's minds is clever and amusing. Should this ever happen, would it be classified as a gift, or a nightmare?

It is not easy to start from a funny idea like this, write a script for 90 minutes, get some humour and end up with a perfect bake.

In fact, it's easy to go wrong somewhere along the way, last too long, make it too slapstick, or too serious, and then after 25 minutes people know they shouldn't have paid for their seat.

This film - about a man suddenly endowed with hearing women's thoughts - is a favourite rerun at Christmas, and I still watch it (ok not in full, I have a life too) instead of changing channels because it's still funny.

Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt are really good there, they just coined it and you wish there were more unpretentious (but with a tiny bit of depth and message) comedies like this around.

This is pretty much the typical romantic comedy, but with an interesting twist; the main character has the ability to hear womens thoughts. The important thing was that for it to work, the character would be placed in a lot of interesting comical situations, where you could laugh at it, without it being too mocking of womens thoughts, or too far-out to enjoy. It succeeds pretty well, however the way the character gains and loses the ability were handled somewhat poorly. The humor is good, and there is plenty of it, throughout the entire runtime. The characters were believable, and the main character eventually grew to be likable. The plot was good, and the acting likewise. The only thing that brings the movie down, is the poor execution of the gain/loss of the ability to hear womens thoughts, and the sugar-sweet ending, that was too predictable and plain boring, as anyone who's seen one of the hundreds(possibly thousands) of romantic comedies out there. No actual new stuff brought to the table, apart from the interesting and original concept of a man being able to hear what women are thinking. OK for a romantic comedy. 7/10

I think most of the other comments I've seen are over-analyzing this light movie. It's a cute fantasy about a male chauvinist transformed into a nice guy by developing (inadvertently) some sensitivity. Women want nice looking guys to be nice GUYS, too. I'm not sure why anyone would need much more in the movie.

The humor is good and Gibson does some amusingly self-effacing stuff and some slick dancing. I thought Helen Hunt was quite believable as the climbing ad exec. I agree with some of the other comments about Tomei deserving a better part but she does what she can with her role.

I thought the relationship development between Gibson and his daughter was interesting, too (albeit accelerated).

Other comments mention the length of the movie, but I was fine with it. It seemed fine to me.

If you're like me and you appreciate the "personal transition" type of movie (my favorite: Groundhog Day), then this is a good fit. This is a movie to help you unwind.

If you are looking for psychological insight into the unfulfilled desires of women and the blatantly unsatisfactory male response, this will disappoint. But watch it anyway -- you probably need to unwind.