Product: What Women Want [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 2.0
Star power can't save romanitc comedy
I didn't like What Women Want very much, but it's only fair to say that this boxoffice hit entertained a lot of moviegoers, as well as a number of critics. Sometimes a reviewer, like anybody else, finds himself at odds with the majority. Because my opinions are published months after a movie's initial release, I at least know when mine is a minority voice.What Women Want is a satirical romantic comedy about a guy named Nick [Mel Gibson] who discovers he can read women's minds. This occurs after a night during which Nick, attired in panty hose, slips and falls, along with the hairdryer he is holding, into a bathtub full of water. [You'll have to see the movie to find out why he is dressed the way he is.] Stunned by a mighty electric shock, he passes out. His new psychic ability is revealed to him the following morning.Nick is a hot commodity at a big advertising agency. He is quite the charmer, but he treats women like objects. Now that he can hear their thoughts, however, he learns that - surprise! - many women are rational, intelligent beings. He quickly learns that his ex-wife thinks he's an idiot, his daughter thinks he is a lousy father, and at work, the girls' opinions range from indifference to outrage. To make matters worse, his new boss, Darcy [Helen Hunt], now has the position he thinks he should have been given. People rarely change overnight, so the conniving Nick decides to use his new talent to his own advantage. He will use it to seduce women and to get Darcy's job by artfully stealing her ideas and making them his own. Too bad for Nick that he also finds Darcy so attractive.What Women Want is Gibson's first romantic comedy in nearly a decade. Ms. Hunt had a much better role as a woman who reforms a man in As Good as it Gets. Marisa Tomei and Bette Midler are very effective in small parts. The best character is Nick's daughter Alexandra, who is undergoing major teen angst. Ashley Johnson does a remarkable job of playing her.Why did I have problems with the movie? In part, it's because producer and director Nancy Myers, whose work [Father of the Bride, The Parent Trap, I Love Trouble] I've never cared much for, is in charge of a story idea that seems to be too clever for her abilities. Also, with a woman at the helm, you might expect that the female characters would think some interesting thoughts. Sadly, what these women have on their minds is so stereotypical and mundane that we wind up learning nothing new about what women want. Certainly some of the thoughts are hysterically funny, but I anticipated at least one or two fresh insights. Lastly, What Women Want is way too long. There is a silly pseudo-Freudian flashback used to explain why Nick is the way he is with women. It's unnecessary and pointless, as is a subplot concerning Nick and a female file clerk who thinks everyone ignores her. These scenes take up twenty minutes, explain nothing, and worst of all, aren't the least bit funny. Of course, several million viewers might disagree with me.