What Women Want

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.

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.

A new creative director (Helen Hunt) is hired by an ad agency (run by Alan Alda) to bring it up to date by appealing to the women's market. Mel Gibson, an account executive and a real man's man, was slated for that position, and he wants to get rid of Hunt. At her first staff meeting, Hunt gives each person a package of various women's products, and each must come up with a campaign for at least one of the items.

At home, Gibson tries out the products in a tour de force of cross-dressing. Funny, if not roll on the floor hilarious, and he does it with an aplomb that makes it look so easy that you at the very least have to admire his skill. In the process, Gibson falls into a tub, followed by a live hair dryer, and receives a shock that alters his brain so that he can hear the thoughts of women. As a result, he bowls everyone over, especially Hunt, with his creative insight into the women's market. Now he's got her right where he wants her...or so he thinks. But creative insight turns out to be a two-edged sword.

I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would. It reminded me of one of those late 50's early 60's romantic comedies, at least in its earlier scenes. In fact, I liked it so much that it made me feel sorry for Woody Allen. His "Curse of the Jade Dragon" suffers by comparison. I mention it, because Allen's film also stars Helen Hunt and, interestingly, has a similar situation–a woman is hired on to bring a company up to date, and she threatens to disrupt the man's career. Even mind-alteration is involved, although of a different kind.

I think the mind-reading premise is brilliant and is set in just the right context, and Hunt and Gibson played off each other very well. I've seen Mel Gibson on a couple of Jay Leno shows, and he seemed ill-at-ease and sometimes a little abrupt, as though he were either very shy, not too bright, or for some reason just didn't want to be there. But what a difference when he's on screen and playing a role that in bygone days would have been filled by Jack Lemmon or Tony Randall or Rock Hudson. Ok, maybe he's not the all-round actor that Lemmon was, but he fit that particular role perfectly. And he even does a bit of a Gene Kelly routine!

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

What man doesn't want the power to read the thoughts of women? Its probably right up their with the power to fly and make money. But that power doesn't want me to shave my legs and wear pantyhose.

In any case, Mel Gibson puts up a good performance. No longer "Riggs" from the all-too-famous "Lethal Weapon" series, Mel wants instead works in a firm that sells women's products. Through some accident (see: "Spider-Man") he has gained a power. Its too bad he loses it.

Of all the women, Mel goes for Helen Hunt. While she isn't the best fish in the sea, she fits the role well. And despite finding out, after Mel loses his powers, that he 'stole' her ideas, she still wants him. A fairytale romance, but not always based in reality.

But it is a enjoyable film. Very much recommended. "B+"