What Men Want Review
R: Language and sexual content throughout, and some drug material
Paramount Players, BET Films, Will Packer Productions
1 Hr and 57 Minutes
Dir: Adam Shankman | Writers: Tina Gordon, Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck
Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Aldis Hodge, Richard Roundtree, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Tracy Morgan, Phoebe Robinson, Max Greenfield, Kellan Lutz, Josh Brener, Pete Davidson
Back in 2000, Nancy Meyers directed a movie called What Women Want starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt, which focused on this ladies man/advertising executive who gets the power to hear womens’ thoughts after inadvertently shocking himself with a hair dryer in a bathtub. For an absurd setup and premise, it was a cute romantic comedy. 19 years later, we have the Black gender-reverse raunchy comedy called What Men Want.
Ali Davis is a successful sports agent who’s constantly boxed out by her male colleagues. When Ali is passed up for a well-deserved promotion, she questions what more she needs to do to succeed in a man’s world, until she gains the ability to hear men’s thoughts. With her newfound power, Ali looks to outsmart her colleagues as she races to sign the next basketball superstar, but the lengths she has to go to will put her relationship with her best friends and a potential new love interest to the test.
As a character-driven story centered on this sports agent in a testosterone-fueled workplace, I like how Ali is written. Her character is written with a consistent amount of sass that never enters the realm of stereotypical Black woman. She has an edge, she’s very self-absorbed, and most of all very unapologetic. She’s not that likable on the surface for the way she treats others, but that’s part of her charm. When she goes through several failures in her occupation, you resonate with her even when her self-centered destruction comes to play. Plus, people actively call out her bullshit instead of walking on eggshells around her. Hell, the situations she goes through are sometimes funny, even prior to her getting her telekinetic abilities. There is a hilarious sex scene she shares with her love interest, a bartender named Will, and honestly it was the first big laugh I received because her actions work contextually with her character. Ali has this instinct of control and seeing her take out all of those frustrations on this guy is hilarious. Henson does a great job in this role and proves that she can dive into any genre and come out on top. There are even scenes with her co-stars that are strong.
Her character has an assistant played by Josh Brenner and some of the best scenes of the whole film come from their interactions. Plus, I love how Ali’s abilities of hearing mens’ thoughts apply to the entire gender including homosexual ones and the first that she hears is his. They have a hysterical dynamic and most of my laughs came from them.
I just mentioned the bartender named Will, played by Aldis Hodge, and he is hilarious. I don’t see Hodge in many films and his last feature was Hidden Figures which also starred Henson. He his her romantic interest this time around, and he has a level of natural charm that makes for some genuinely cute scenes. And to point back to their sex scenes, the majority of the laughs stem from his reactions to Ali’s aggressiveness.
Truly, it is a shame how the Nancy Meyers film never soared from its premise by applying a basic romantic plot to it. I’ll be damned if 19 years later, the same criticisms for What Women Want applies to this gender-reverse remake as well. My major gripe against What Men Want is how much it doesn’t take proper advantage of its enticing premise to do anything new or clever. What the film decides to do instead is aim for the basic run of the mill raunchy comedy narrative that never feels balanced between its story and its humor or even writing a strong character.
A whopping 22 million dollars was this film’s budget and a little more effort in the production would’ve been welcoming. There are scenes held in a major boardroom and the white balance is not properly adjusted. The exteriors viewed from the windows are just white light as opposed to any resemblance to an actual sky, so when there are extras standing right beside their window, their heads just glow. I wish I was just being nitpicky but this is so bothersome throughout. This is a BET Films production and it has the same lighting as a series from the channel. Even Brian Tyler’s score walks the rope of a TV production bearing so much resemblance to a Seinfeld theme.
Leigh Blickley of Huffpost wrote a piece that perfectly furthers my frustrations with this film especially when she states, “Like its predecessor, What Men Want expects its protagonist’s introspective journey from self-centered ladder-climber to empathetic team player to resonate, using relevant buzz phrases like ‘I’m With Her’ and ‘Me Too’ to camouflage any shortcomings.”
When Ali hears mens’ thoughts, the jokes are inside the realm of absurdity which hardly works, even for comedic purposes. If you want a comedy where most of the jokes are stemmed from ADR, then this is for you. The narrative is a generic comedy that revolves around a lie and this character has to keep up with those strings of lies despite having amazing abilities. The premise is great and some elements leading up to it are funny. Then, for some reason, they go around the same execution of familiar comedies. It’s a shame Henson starred in a movie with a similar story - not concept - but story, and that was Think Like a Man. But then, when the film falls flat, it turns into A Thousand Words.
On one hand, it clones an actually decent romantic comedy that was grounded and consistent and knew the story it wanted to tell. On the other hand, it clones this annoying comedy that is obnoxious, foolish, and bears terrible writing. It lacks an identity while most of the jokes are scattershot, especially for the approach it takes. When the dialogue doesn’t work - and often times it doesn’t - the film aims for physical comedy which is way too exaggerated in an attempt for cheap laughs. The poker scene you see in the trailers is poorly written and edited to look like a music video where they play some hip-hop song from late 90s/early 00s (which is an annoying occurrence throughout).
Lastly, CAN EVERY COMEDY STOP APPROACHING A RUNNING TIME OF TWO HOURS?! You’re not telling an epic story by any means. Hell, your jokes aren’t all that funny. Stop having a running time that doesn’t compensate your material!
If the comedy is big and raunchy, why not take the story along with it to those extremes? Granted, the film gets annoying when scenes conclude stereotypical Black foolishness that is present in Tyler Perry movies, but Jesus Christ this could’ve lived up to its potential. You have this character who is addicted to control and power. Why not use her abilities to her advantage by bringing her out on top and learning some lesson as opposed to just her finding romance and becoming less of an asshole? This could’ve been a better comedy if it aimed higher, especially when it tried to take a mature approach. Oh well. The best Paramount comedy to date might as well be Top Five.
What Men Want provides serviceable entertainment, but the scattershot execution to its clever concept prevents it from living up to its full potential.
Rating: 2/5 | 47%
