Yar, you be here: What Women Want > Customer Reviews

What Women Want Customer Reviews (16 - 18 of 55 Reviews)

Vapid and Disjointed
I knew I was not going to be watching Doctor Zhivago when I checked this DVD out of the local library, but I thought, with Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt involved (as well as Alan Alda and a wonderful Marisa Tomei in supporting roles), the story would make some sense whatsoever, or at least be mildly amusing. What a waste.

This film cannot decide whether it wants to be an aburdist comedy, a "Working Girl" like tale of a woman rising to the top in a man's business world, or a love story involving the two lead characters. They also throw in a little rebellious daughter v. overprotective father stuff for good measure. At various times in the movie, it tries to do all of the above, none very well mind you, only to abandon the premise in favor of something else.

Mel Gibson is a successful, cocky, chauvinist advertising executive in line for a promotion by his boss Alan Alda. On the day he is supposedly destined for glory, Alda pulls an about face and hires outsider Helen Hunt for the promotion, who was recently fired from her job at a competing agency, despite her supposedly great marketing ideas for targeting women consumers. There follows a rather predictable effort at sabotage by Mel, while (equally predictably) he starts falling for his new boss Hunt at the same time he pities her.

Within this fairly unexciting plotline the writers have thrown a bizarre twist, namely that Gibson, who receives a shock in his bathtub, can now hear the secret thoughts of all women around him. One horrible scene involves Gibson walking through a department store, I think it was the prefume section, and being literally tortured by the bombardment of thoughts assailing him from all females present. After they believe this joke wears a little thin, (and believe me it does), the writers just basically abandon the premise!

By the conclusion you just want this dog to end, since many reviewers here rightly pointed out the movie is about thirty minutes too long. I liked the scenes with quirky Marisa Tomei, an aspiring actress who works in a coffee bar and worries about the impending loss of her looks, but Mel (and the writers) drop Marisa like a dirty shirt about halfway through the film. Gibson ends up being, at least with Tomei, exactly the kind of chauvinist jerk they are trying to convince you he is not. You have to admire Gibson's willingness to take risks and change gears every now and then, making a film like this in favor of yet another Braveheart/Patriot clone. However if you still want to watch What Women Want, by all means rent this movie, you won't want to sit through it more than once.

3 1/2 stars; intriguing idea but not as much depth as
IT COULD HAVE HAD.

Great idea though: what if a guy could read the thoughts of all women around him? Make it into a romantic comedy with a guy who's self absorbed and disinterested in other women. In the end, he realizes his errors.

GOOD POINTS:

(1) Some funny scenes;

(2) famous cast and supporting cast; Helen Hunt, Mel Gibson, Marisa Tomei, girl known as LISA from JACK AND JILL TV show; Alan Alda from the MASH TV series; etc.

(3) a few interesting insight in to women;

(4) fairly good chemistry between Gibson and HH;

(5) some cool gag scenes;

(6) storyline was good but not great or superb

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE

(1) No enduring theme; too simple like candy for a day;

(2) the character arc changes for Gibson aren't believable; he changes to fit the needs of the story rather than there being strong, persuasive elements for his change;

(3) would have been truer and more interesting if a minor subplot wasn't resolved for the better. In this story, everyone was happy and come on, differences between the sexes are hard choices to negotiate. The film does the issue a disservice by resolving everything like cotton candy.

(4) There's so much Gibson's character could have done with his talent but we only saw part of it. Sort of like watching someone drive a porsche in a 25MPH zone to pick up food at the local grocery store. Yet, we never see its full potential b/c it's never taken out on the freeway.

So, overall, good movie if you want something light. Nothing deep or hidden deeply in the film to give it resonance in later years. If you can deal with that, check it out.

Not What Everyone Wants
What Women Want isn't a bad film. It's just too long!. This is movie is a half hour longer than it really needs to be. It drags on way too long and I think that hurts the film. Mel Gibson stars as an adman who receives the ability to read women's minds after getting electrocuted in his bathroom by falling in the tub with a hair dryer. Yeah, it could happen. Sure. Predictably, Mel starts to use it to his advantage. Would you?. He uses it on his new co-worker played by Helen Hunt. After a while, he realizes he's using his newfound powers for the wrong reasons. He also makes Helen's character lose her job. Of course, there's romance between the two. How could there not be?. The movie takes a more serious turn as Mel starts feeling pressure from hearing things he really doesn't want to hear, including a co-worker who he thinks wants to kill herself. The film could of done without that part. Again, the movie isn't bad. It could've been funnier and a lot shorter. Mel Gibson is very good in this. Helen Hunt has little to do here. But, on the up side, she looks incredible. This is a film that will not be everyone's taste.

Previous Page

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Next Page