When I go to the movies as frequently as I do, I eavesdrop on people's responses. I can tell you that after I sat through a screening of "What Women Want," what women want is Mel Gibson, pure and simple. Gibson is often a delight to watch in this movie but he is not allowed to break loose and neither is most of the cast. What remains is an insipid, boring, snail-paced romantic comedy that trashes the outrageous concept it has in store. That can't be what women want.
Gibson plays Nick Marshall, a self-important womanizer and ad executive (aren't they all in these kinds of movies?), who one day has a freak accident while trying out new women's products. Nick suddenly develops the ability to hear women's innermost thoughts (not to mention a female poodle!), their desires, wants, and essentially what they are really thinking when on a date or having sex or walking by him. Nick is annoyed at first at this magical new sense, but he learns to use it to his liking. He has his eye on the cafe waitress (played with alarming zing and smooth sex appeal by Marisa Tomei), who apparently wants Nick sexually. This works in Nick's favor, and the irony is that Nick has not changed much, he just knows what women want from him and he learns to listen to them as much as anything else.
"What Women Want" has a terrific premise that is squandered by far too many subplots. There is the silly romance betweeen Nick and the new boss of the agency, Darcy Maguire (Helen Hunt), a position Nick had coveted. Hunt and Gibson have zero chemistry and so their romance barely lit my fire.
Then there is the whole song-and-dance about Nick's teenage daughter whom he is trying to understand and come to terms with - there is even a cliched montage where she dresses up in various prom dances to the tune of a pop song. How many more of those do we need?
And to add more insult to injury, there is the suicidal worker in the agency whose thoughts naturally register to Nick. Nick sees trouble and tries to save her but what the heck does any of this have to do with the movie's main focus on Nick's superb ability, often leading to bedding women? It just feels tacked on as a simple-minded moral statement about using one's uncommon gift to good advantage. Oh, please!
The problem is that "What Women Want" does not truly exploit its central idea - a man listening to and hearing women's thoughts is ripe for lots of imaginative scenes. And what if Nick had another freak accident and could hear men too? The possibilities are endless. Think of "Being John Malkovich" which took its idea of people entering the mind of Malkovich and milked it for all it was worth. The difference is that "What Women Want" doesn't have the courage of the former - it wants to be a chick flick where women can swoon over the close-ups of Gibson's face and restrained charm while he tries to romance Helen Hunt. Hunt is so vapid in this movie and Gibson becomes so monotonous in his comic delivery (save for the final scene between him and Tomei) that audiences, particularly women, are more likely to groan.
For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at http://moviething.com/buffs/faust/
E-mail me with any questions, comments or general complaints at Faust667@aol.com or at jerry@movieluver.com
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