What Women Want was a movie released in 2000 starring Mel
Gibson and Helen Hunt. A chauvinistic ad exec accidentally electrocutes himself
and as a result, can suddenly hear what women are thinking. He uses that to his
advantage at his job and romantically.
The movie has now been reworked and we get a flipped version with What
Men Want.
Ali Davis is a sports agent working with several high
profile clients in an agency in Atlanta.
She gets passed over for partner again, and is becoming frustrated with
her job when her boss tells her she doesn’t understand men. She heads out for a bachelorette weekend with
some friends, and is given shady tea by a psychic. The tea and a head injury
allow her to wake up with the ability to hear men’s inner thoughts.
At first terrified, she then realizes she can
use the power to land the huge new basketball prospect about to go number one
in the NBA draft. Along the way, she
fumbles her relationship and pisses off her friends, because despite hearing
inner thoughts, she hasn’t quite learned to listen.
This version is directed by Adam Shankman, and I have to
say, I never cared much for the original.
This version is rated R, and certainly has funny moments, but is
definitely not the best thing you’ve seen lately. Shankman lets the cast run a bit wild, which
is best for this circumstance. The story
is not original, and it follows typical rom-com patterns perfectly. As long as you don’t expect too much, you’ll
be fine with this slice of nonsense.
- Taraji P. Henson plays Ali Davis, and really, this role suits her. She’s determined, aggressive, and wants to succeed at any cost. Realizing what others really think of her gives her pause and she re-evaluates her priorities. Henson is great at big comedy and hasn’t had the chance to do it in a while.
- Richard Roundtree plays Skip Davis, former boxer and Ali’s dad. He only gets a few scenes, but manages to convey their entire past history as well as how over-protective he’s been as a father and why.
- Josh Brener plays Brandon Wallace, Ali’s assistant who is ready to move on to a new position, but she keeps holding down in place. He also proves himself to be one of her truest friends, which she realizes by the end.
- Brian Bosworth plays the boss, Nick Ivers. He’s content with his boys club and asks Ali to ‘stay in her lane’ because she doesn’t react well to men.
- Max Greenfield plays Kevin Myrtle, Ali’s co-worker and surprising ally.
- Aldis Hodge plays Will, a local bartender who Ali begins to fall for, and then mistakenly uses as a ‘fake family’ in order to woo a new big client. Standard rom-com fare here where she falls for him, screws it up, but then uses a big dramatic gesture to get a second chance. Aldis is great and beautiful, but very two-dimensional here – he still ends up better than Kellan Lutz who gets a one-dimensional role in the beginning.
- Tracey Morgan plays the father of the new potential signee. He’s not really acting, just playing Tracey Morgan, which is fine for this.
- Phoebe Robinson, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Tamala Jones play the three best friends who get Ali into this situation, and then she upsets when she tells them the truth about what their husbands/boyfriends are thinking.
- Erykah Badu plays “Sister”, the psychic who comes to the house for the party, but then also operates out of the back of a beauty salon. She was such a surprise to me and really stole every scene she was in.
Overall, it’s not great, it’s not anything you haven’t seen
before, especially if you’ve seen the other one. It’s raunchier than necessary,
but it definitely has some funny moments. The cast all seems to be having a
lovely time together, and sometimes that can save a flick.
6 out of 10 – completely average, not necessarily a bad
thing, but also not a great thing.
Bonus - A reminder that Aldis and his brother Edwin play the
two kids in Die Hard 3 who bring Sam Jackson the radio in the beginning. Also that he was on Leverage, which was a fantastic show.
No comments:
Post a Comment