What Women Want (2000)

This movie is one of Mel Gibsons best! He is a natural at comedy! For this movie to have such a low rating reflects on the Neanderthals that write these reviews. A few of us modern Homo-sapiens have to set the record straight and be assured my fellow enlightened humans this is a great movie. Mel Gibson does some excellent acting as does Helen Hunt. A great plot, a social statement, and a truly inspiring love story, this movie has it all, including some very very funny parts. This is not a no-brainer slap stick comedy but one that makes you think about our interaction with other people and how it effects them and you. It also answers the question that men have been seeking forever, what do women want! Rent it, you won't be disappointed. I've watched it many times and will do so again as it is that good.

Fmovies: In the 1960's, popular writer and psychiatrist, Eric Berne wrote a book upon which this film should have been its premise. The book was called the 'games people play.' This interesting, quirky, comedy movie is called " What women want. " It tells the story of a top Manhattan, executive, Nick Marshall, (Mel Gibson) in the advertising business who experiences a shocking electrical accident which leaves him with the ability to read women's minds. Much like another movie, 'The Misadventures of Merlin Jones.' Although females at his place of employment consider him to be a snobbish, egocentric, male chauvinist and brutish womanizer, he sees himself the opposite. Slated for a promotion, he is dismayed when he is not. Instead another executive, a female, Darcy Maguire (Helen Hunt) is chosen. Believing he is cursed, he seeks a doctor who convinces him it's not a curse, but a blessing. Although, there is much to learn, Marshall soon adapts and uses his power to sabotage Darcy and her efforts. Alan Alda plays Dan Wanamaker, Gibson's boss, with Marisa Tomei, Delta Burke and Valerie Perrine in supporting roles, this movie sails well, until the principals meet to resolve their predicament, which in this reviewer's opinion, leaves much to be desired. Nevertheless, Gibson does a good job and is able to produce many a smile with his feminine antics. ****

This was the most fun I've had movie-watching in at least a year. It had me laughing, talking to the characters (mainly "Oh, no!" and "Watch out!"), and eager to see what would happen next. I guess it's true that women are difficult for men to understand because what we're are thinking often contradicts what we're saying. What DO women want? The casting was wonderful, the acting was superb, and the direction was perfect. I heard that Tim Allan had been considered for the lead role. He would've been a great choice, but so was Mel Gibson. Bravo to one and all! Now how about doing a similar movie with a woman hearing men's thoughts, hmmmm? Just as Shirley Temple helped distract grateful Americans from the Great Depression, we need more comedies like this to distract us from equally-distressing things.

What Women Want fmovies. 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!

Here is a movie that, to be sure, is part fantasy, part wacky comedy; but to call `What Women Want,' directed by Nancy Meyers, `just' a comedy would be not only inaccurate, but would be doing an injustice to the film as well. Because-- while there are plenty of laughs to be had (especially early on)-- in the end, there is a lot more bite and substance to it than first meets the eye. Enough to definitely raise it far above the `fluff' piece many will perceive it to be, if only due to some shallow reviews and the theatrical trailer currently being shown, which gives only the vaguest notion of what this movie is really all about. In fact, once most of the `cute' stuff is out of the way (about a third of the way through), the film really starts to get good,with a message about decency that is worthwhile, if only it can penetrate the formidable barrier of the viewer with an attention span barely able to accommodate an episode of `Friends.' Beyond the humor, there is a story here about a man named Nick Marshall (Mel Gibson) who literally receives the shock of his life, and afterwards must deal with who he is by coming to terms with his past, realizing the truth about himself in the present, and understanding what his future will be if he does not change his ways . It's something of a contemporary take on `A Christmas Carol,' with Nick an egotistical, self-centered, witty (In his own eyes) Scrooge; a veritable legend in his own mind, which is not-- as he comes to find out-- necessarily the way he is perceived by many of those around him, especially the women in his professional life. The screenplay, written by Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith, is extremely insightful and brought to the screen with equal acuity by director Meyers, who goes to great lengths at the beginning of the film to explain Nick's exaggerated chauvinism, what made him the `Man's man' he has become. And while it is clever and effective, closer scrutiny in the editing room may have benefited the overall film, as his character is somewhat `overly' established. But just about at the point when you're saying to yourself, `All right I get it!' Meyers grabs the helm with both hands and suddenly the ship is at full mast and on course, where she keeps it for the rest of the journey. The turning point comes after Nick's visit to a marriage counselor (a terrific cameo by Bette Midler) with whom he had had business some years before. It's as if not only Nick, but Meyers as well, had heeded Bette's advice. Mel Gibson does a good job of getting into Nick Marshall's skin, and he's to be commended for going out on a limb and taking on a character that may not be immediately embraced by even die-hard Gibson fans. It's a testimony to his ability as an actor, though, because he does make Nick the epitome of chauvinism, and except for the few throw-back Neanderthals (women as well as men) still in existence who subscribe to the `Man's man' theory of de-evolution, Nick will effect the same response from the audience that he does in the minds of many of the women who surround him in the movie. It's only when you've had a chance to consider Gibson's performance at arm's length that you will realize how good he is in this film. On the other hand, the real saving grace of this movie is immediately discernible, and that is the performance of the wonderful Helen Hunt. As Darcy McGuire, the professional hired to lead the ad agency for whom Nick works into the Twenty-first Century, Hunt is

"What Women Want" has a unusual plot which also makes us (men) think: what do women really want? The final conclusion is that they want happiness, just like men.

Despite being a predictable movie and nothing extraordinary, at least it teaches to us (men) some valuable lessons about women. It's a good way to understand and know them better.

The first hour of this movie is great fun, very entertaining and pure comedy. During the first hour we have some moments to give us good laughs. Mel Gibson has never been this funny before. He plays a hilarious character: Nick Marshall, a typical "macho men" or a "men's man". The kind of man that other men admire and want to be like him. The kind of man who doesn't understand a thing about women (although seen as a "God's gift" to women). Nick is proud, rich, chauvinistic, single and loves to hear Frank Sinatra.

After an accident with the hairdryer, he suddenly has the power of hearing what women think and what they think of him isn't what he expected. He sees this as a curse, but after being convinced by a psychologist that he could take advantage of this gift, he uses it to manipulate Darcy McGuire.

However, in the second half, the movie fails, becoming predictable and somehow lame, losing all its comical side. Some ridiculous and silly things happen in the second half. Also, I rather the "old" Nick than the "good" Nick, because the "old" Nick was much funnier. He becomes the "good guy" in the second half, losing his sense of humor.

This movie has some nice songs, such as "I Won't Dance" (performed by Frank Sinatra), "I've Got You Under My Skin" (performed by Frank Sinatra in a duet with Bono) and "Bitch" (performed by Meredith Brooks).

Mel Gibson is great and charming as Nick Marshall, while Helen Hunt is okay and pretty in the role of Darcy McGuire.