What Women Want

Plot synopsis:
Nick Marshall is a Chicago advertising executive who grew up with a Las Vegas showgirl as a mother. All his life, he's been showered in women's attention which made him a chauvinist who thinks of himself as God's gift to women. He is skilled at selling to men and seducing women. All men sees him as the alpha male and all women seem to approve of his ways. But just as he thinks he's headed for a promotion as the new creative director, his manager, Dan, informs him that he is hiring Darcy McGuire instead,a woman with a reputation for being a man-eater, to broaden the firm's appeal to women. A market Nick knows nothing about.Also, his estranged 15-year-old daughter Alex is spending two weeks with him while his ex-wife Gigi goes on her honeymoon with her new husband. Alex is embarrassed by Nick's ways toward women, and resents him a lot for his lack of interest in her over the years.On her first day at work, Darcy gives all her employees, including Nick, a box of feminine products and expect them to come up with ideas to sell those. Needing to prove himself to Darcy and Dan, Nick tries them on at home trying to come up with ideas and getting drunk in the process. As a result, he slips and falls into his bathtub while holding an electric hairdryer, shocking himself to unconsciousness.The next day, Nick wakes up able to hear his maid's thoughts as she cleans his apartment. As he walks through a park and encounters numerous women, he realizes that he can hear their thoughts, even those of a female poodle. It gets worse when he goes to work and realizes that all his female co-workers hates him, including the ones that were really nice to him. He then runs to a previous therapist, Dr. Perkins who, he finds out, hates him as well. At first, she doesn't believe him but he's able to prove to her that he can hear her every thoughts. She then helps him realize the magnitude of his new gift: "If Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus, and you can speak Venusian, the world can be yours."Armed with that new perspective, Nick starts eavesdropping on women's thoughts and uses their ideas as inspirations for his own campaigns. In the meantime, he also begins to develop real friendships with his female co-workers. Nick also realizes that Darcy is a very effective and capable creative director. He decides to use his new ability to get closer to Darcy in order to eventually subdue her and get her job. Which works perfectly at first, but as he spends more time with Darcy, he finds himself being attracted to her.Meanwhile, he tries to get closer to his daughter, but she resents him for trying after so many years of neglect. He is finally able to bond with her a little by helping her shop for a dress for a prom dance. After shopping, they have a conversation in which Nick shrewdly suspects that her boyfriend, who's 18 years old, plans to sleep with her and then dump her. He tries to give her the sex talk about not doing it if you're not ready and waiting for the right guy, but she doesn't want Nick's advice.Nick finds a new perk to his new power when he goes to seduce Lola, a coffee shop attendant who always refused his advances before. They go on a date and Nick uses his power to make it the perfect date for her. She brings him back home to have sex but Nick finds himself unable to do the deed properly because he keeps hearing her criticizing his every move. He takes a moment to regroup and goes back to the charge. We don't really know what he did differently but, in the end, she calls him, in her mind, a sex god and Nick is very proud of that.After that, Nick and Darcy begin to spend more time together, and ultimately one night, they kiss. On his way back home, Nick finds a distraught Lola who hasn't heard from him in a week, asking for answers. Knowing there's only one answer that will not hurt Lola or make her feel rejected, Nick plays along with Lola's thoughts and admits to her that he is very gay.Nick starts to feel bad about himself and what he's doing to Darcy. He not only sees the error of his ways but the error of men's ways toward women in general. Especially when he manages to trump Darcy out of her ideas for a new Nike ad campaign aimed at women, which leads to a very lucrative contract for the firm but also to Darcy being fired and Nick being promoted.Nick finally step-up to the plate and confronts his boss about firing Darcy. He convinces him that all his ideas were hers and he should take her back which he agrees to.Nick is about to go to Darcy's to explain everything when he finds out that Erin, one of the office secretaty who's suicidal thoughts Nick heard on many occasions, has not showed up for work and hasn't called either. Convinced of the worst Nick goes to Erin's hoping to stop her. On his way, Nick witness an electrical explosion while standing in the rain. He goes to Erin and talks to her, meanwhile realizing he's not hearing her thoughts anymore and concluding he lost his gift. He then goes to Darcy's but is unable to reach her and leaves.That night, He is reconciled with his daughter when her boyfriend rejected her for following Nick's advice after all. He puts his daughter to bed and goes to Darcy's in the middle of the night to finally confess everything. She first fires him, which Nick never saw coming but realizes he deserves it and accepts it. She then forgives him and agrees to save him from himself, to which he responds "My hero" and they kiss.

Tags: paranormal, romantic, entertaining, stupid

Review:
He's the one man women probably wish understood them.At any rate,Gibson really turns on the Gibson charm here and there's not a better film in which to do that.Helen Hunt makes a great leading lady and is her usual charming self.Also,from the supporting cast,it's always great to see Alan Alda,one of the most underrated actors of our time.This film starts with a very unique,funny idea,and it does not disappoint in terms of how good it can be executed.Well casted,well directed and very funny film..
This is pretty much the typical romantic comedy, but with an interesting twist; the main character has the ability to hear womens thoughts.
The important thing was that for it to work, the character would be placed in a lot of interesting comical situations, where you could laugh at it, without it being too mocking of womens thoughts, or too far-out to enjoy.
The only thing that brings the movie down, is the poor execution of the gain/loss of the ability to hear womens thoughts, and the sugar-sweet ending, that was too predictable and plain boring, as anyone who's seen one of the hundreds(possibly thousands) of romantic comedies out there.
The film What Women Want is about a man, Nick Marshall (Mel Gibson), who has been characterized as a 'man's man,' a male who is the type of guy that other men look up to.
And you've gotta love the romance!Mel Gibson is Nick Marshall, a womanizer who at the same time doesn't understand women at all.
When the womanliest of all women, Darcy Maguire (Helen Hunt), starts to work with his company, she assigns everyone to think of advertising ideas for at least one feminine item in the boxes she gives them (pantyhose, lipstick, mascara, a wonderbra, nail polish, etc.).
He uses this asset to steal Darcy's ideas, and at the same time falls in love with her.Besides Gibson and Hunt's performances, there are three other reasons I love this movie.
Frank Sinatra, the Temptations, Nancy Wilson, and Bobby Darin sing old classics, while Christina Agulera and Meredith Brooks perform fairly new hits.Anybody who likes comedy, romance, or just a great movie should see "What Women Want." I think it's one of the few unisex romantic comedies (not chick flicks) there are, so it's a great date movie..
In fact, once most of the `cute' stuff is out of the way (about a third of the way through), the film really starts to get good,with a message about decency that is worthwhile, if only it can penetrate the formidable barrier of the viewer with an attention span barely able to accommodate an episode of `Friends.'  Beyond the humor, there is a story here about a man named Nick Marshall (Mel Gibson) who literally receives the shock of his life, and afterwards must deal with who he is by coming to terms with his past, realizing the truth about himself in the present, and understanding what his future will be if he does not change his ways .
It's a good way to understand and know them better.The first hour of this movie is great fun, very entertaining and pure comedy.
He becomes the "good guy" in the second half, losing his sense of humor.This movie has some nice songs, such as "I Won't Dance" (performed by Frank Sinatra), "I've Got You Under My Skin" (performed by Frank Sinatra in a duet with Bono) and "Bitch" (performed by Meredith Brooks).Mel Gibson is great and charming as Nick Marshall, while Helen Hunt is okay and pretty in the role of Darcy McGuire..
" It tells the story of a top Manhattan, executive, Nick Marshall, (Mel Gibson) in the advertising business who experiences a shocking electrical accident which leaves him with the ability to read women's minds.
As most other comments have said, the women characters, particularly Tomei, are woefully underdeveloped and underused, leaving the film to stand and fall on Gibson's performance.The plot lurches along too: Tomei is written out with an unbelievable plot device, the 'daughter' sub plot is predictable and the ending just doesn't convince.As said, you like Mel, you get Mel. But if you're looking for sensible plot and believable characters, try elsewhere.
With a respectable supporting cast, including Marisa Tommei, Alan Alda, Lauren Holly, and Bette Midler, it is hard to imagine how "WhatWomen Want" could have failed to entertain audiences.Nick Marshal obviously does not know what women want.
It is not easy to start from a funny idea like this, write a script for 90 minutes, get some humour and end up with a perfect bake.In fact, it's easy to go wrong somewhere along the way, last too long, make it too slapstick, or too serious, and then after 25 minutes people know they shouldn't have paid for their seat.This film - about a man suddenly endowed with hearing women's thoughts - is a favourite rerun at Christmas, and I still watch it (ok not in full, I have a life too) instead of changing channels because it's still funny.Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt are really good there, they just coined it and you wish there were more unpretentious (but with a tiny bit of depth and message) comedies like this around..
Dig this: Nick Marshall (Mel Gibson) gets electrocuted by a hairdryer and when he comes to his senses again, he can actually READ women's minds!!
We learn that the stuff women think about is actually ordinary and rather obvious (they don't want to get hurt emotionally, they want to prove that there's more to them than just a pretty face etc etc) The screenplay contains a few major clichés, like tremendous emotional speeches and Gibson who automatically gets mistaken for a gay man.
Mel Gibson goes pure romantic lead for the first time and turns in one of his most charming performances in WHAT WOMEN WANT, a cute comedy-fantasy about a womanizing advertising executive who gets quasi-electrocuted one night and upon awakening, discovers he has the ability to hear what all women are thinking, an ability he initially rebuffs, then abuses, and then runs from with all his might.
If you think Mel Gibson is the sexiest man alive, WHAT WOMEN WANT is the film for you..
It has just the right dosis of humor and romance, and it's main stars (who I don't exactly admire in any other role) do their thing just right.Nick Marshall (Mel Gibson) is an arrogant, sexist executive who one day finds Darcy McGuire (Helen Hunt) as his boss.
Here's something that will justify your 8 dollars though: unlike in tons of other clichéd romantic comedies, the way these characters are realized is likely to make you care about them.Besides, admit it: you want to see Mel Gibson do Fred Astaire to IL' Blue Eyes against the most beautiful skyline in the world, lie about his orientation, and...
This movie is based in the idea women don't express their thought sincerely.Well,who does?Some of the women in this movie had potential but the movie get's too sentimental to let it be explored.They actualy turn shallow.I'm referring to:1)Darcy.She is supposed to be tough,wittyful ,ambitious.She is in the best point of her life!And what does she do?Oh,finds a way not to be lonely.Why not?She managed so far alone.What does she need a man for?2)Lola.She is trying hard not to be hurt,she has a dreams of acting,a steady job,makes a good bedmate.And she ends up almost psychotic?Why?She is probably the best character in the entire movie.Why don't this movie explore the life of such an interesting character?3)Alexandra.She is mature,has a life and doesn't seem to need "Daddy".She wants to have sex and has found a mate.Why does she ruin it all during prom night.Was it so hard to see a female enjoying her sex life for a change?This movie seems to imply that when a man and a woman have sex,the man takes advantage of her.Nice idea if you were raised in Victorian England instead of the modern wrld.4)Erin.The depressed,potentialy suicidal girl.Why is she so depressed and what has she done in order to improve her life?A favor from another doesn't help on your self-confidence.5)The secretery.She thinks she is stuck in this position because she is female and her boyfriend lives in Israel.Does she change things for her own benefit.No. Too bad a movie with such interesting characters doesn't use them properly.And it doesn't really examine their real problems either.Lack of confidense,anxiety,depression,insecurity accompany the characters till the end.The funny thing is that we are supposed to feel good about.A mediocre movie with no new ideas who seems to imply women want men.What happened to feminism?.
an accident and slices from romantic comedies from 1940's years.Mel Gibson does a great job and he seems be the best choice for the metamorphose of Nick Marshall.
The film is wittily written and sharply directed too, while the story is pretty interesting and unique on the whole, like Nick Marshall's gift of being able to hear women's thoughts.
The two lead performances are excellent, Mel Gibson can be obnoxious like his character but he is also very charming, while Helen Hunt is great as his far-from-perfect love interest.
After a blow-drier lands in his bathtub, promiscuous "man's man" executive Mel Gibson (as Nick Marshall) develops the power to read women's minds.
You don't have to be Freud to figure out what happens to Gibson and Ms. Hunt.Though tame and predictable, "What Women Want" benefits from good production values and features a strong supporting cast, in showcase-written roles.
They want to look nice and have good sex, but seem more complicated.****** What Women Want (12/13/00) Nancy Meyers ~ Mel Gibson, Helen Hunt, Ashley Johnson, Marisa Tomei.
But just as his plan is beginning to work,love gets in the way:i actually like this movie it's funny and has a weird humor.Mel Gibson has always been good actor in every movie and Helen Elizabeth Hunt was ten years ago the cutest woman in the world and right now she is okay too..
To make matters even more embarrassing,he has to test women's toiletry products on his own time to come up with brainstorming ideas for the ad campaign for said products.This,of course,greases the wheels for the rest of this plot,which is as high-concept as a movie could get:Nick electrocutes himself in a mishap involving the products,he discovers through this mishap that he can hear into women's thoughts,he(at first)uses this knowledge for his own selfish gain(which includes getting into the pants of a lovely but neurotic barrista,played by underused MArisa Tomei),then finds himself stirred to act to help a lonely and potentially suicidal copy girl(Judy Greer,making the full most of a small part)and his own shy,insecure and pressured daughter(Ashley Johnson).
All the while,he's building(see if you can't see THIS coming)a romance with the savvy,smart but attracted Darcy.Directed by charm lord(lordess?)Nancy Meyers,who struck gold with the Father of the Bride movies and 2004's Something's Gotta Give,has laid out a nice,harmless movie for Gibson(regardless of what you think of him personally)to use his talent for physical comedy and personal charisma to full effect.
WHAT WOMEN WANT **** We discover the importance of selflessness, generosity, and human decency amidst the world's superficiality in Nancy Marchand's production, through the character development of a self-centered, chauvinistic advertising executive (Mel Gibson) who has life going for him...until he starts discovering his own uncharacteristic qualities.
My favorite part of this great love story is when Mel Gibson grabs Helen hunt as they are walking thru the door of her new house.
I don't think there is another actor who could have pulled off a genuinely convincing performance and make it work at the same time.The underlying storyline with Nick's daughter makes "What Women Want" much more appealing than if it was just a straight forward comedy because it also appeals to a wider audience.
I liked this movie and hope that men will begin to understand that women do think about other things besides sex.
I do like Mel Gibson as an actor and i thought he was very funny as the advertisement agent who has trouble relating to women to other things and sex objects.
Gibson and Hunt sparkle as each bring their own style of humor to "What Women Want." I can not think of another comedic film that all the pieces so original came together and worked.
Gibson and Hunt sparkle as each bring their own style of humor to "What Women Want." I can not think of another comedic film that all the pieces so original came together and worked.
Hunt is a fresh sight in Hollywood and I hope she stays for a very long time."What Women Want" is a very funny movie and it will allow each viewer to sit back and relax.
Hunt is a fresh sight in Hollywood and I hope she stays for a very long time."What Women Want" is a very funny movie and it will allow each viewer to sit back and relax.
I just liked this movie.I saw it twice.I stayed all the time focused on the character played by Mel Gibson.He was funny,honest,caring to others needs(women's needs).
Via a Frankenstein-like electric transformation, the excellent Mel Gibson is transformed into the caring, ultra-new Man, with the comedy value accelerated with the sort of hidden insight used to similar effect in the film Roxanne/Cyrano de Bergerac.This film is brilliant with some purely brilliant and sumptuous mise-en-scene, lots of bright colours and the advertising motifs.It has some great themes too: failure, success, office politics, romance, and a nasty guy totally changing and becoming nice to everyone (just like Scrooge!).
It was funny, romantic, had an interesting concept, great music, and of coarse, Mel Gibson.There are a lot of funny lines in this movie.
He is so good at comedy that this movie could have been a one man show, and in some ways it was.He's an overconfident ad executive who sees the promotion he should have had go to a woman (Helen Hunt) so that the firm can court the female disretionary income.
Mel Gibson gives an incredible performance as Nick Marshall, the man who can hear woman's thoughts.
Mel Gibson is no Cary Grant and puts in an embarrassing performance - maybe the only person who could have pulled this off would have been Steve Martin - at least he is FUNNY.This film is supposed to be a comedy and I think I can remember smiling about twice whilst watching it - if you want to see original humour definitely give this film a miss - you'll have seen many of these jokes before.
"What Women Want" takes us back to a point in Mel Gibson's career in which he had established himself as a top rated leading man for 20 years.
A rather incredible supporting cast has been assembled, starting with Helen Hunt, fresh off an Oscar winning best actress performance in "As Good as It Gets." Because some viewers will focus on how great the first half of this movie is, the second half will tend to get dismissed as being perhaps a little too sentimental and ultimately and eventually predictable.
When he wakes up, he finds that he can read women's mind.Nancy Meyers may know the mind of a woman, but I don't know what she thinks Mel Gibson's character is doing.
Mel Gibson is funny, adorable, loving, and full of comedy in this movie.
He is one of a kind, he really learns what women want by having a strange accident...although it takes him a while to make his intentions good, he is quite the funny man in this movie.
Mel Gibson and Helen hunt give good performances and have chemistry together that lifts the film's entertainment value.
As for the rest of the cast, Helen Hunt has never looked better, Alan Alda is always fun to watch, as is Marisa Tomei, and it's always nice to see Valerie Perrine in a movie.
An out of box idea where Nick played by charming Mel Gibson gets the miraculous ability to hear what women are thinking.
Nancy Meyers Directed 'What Women Want' is an entertaining, sweet film, that is nicely written & once again goes on-to prove how Good Mel Gibson is.
I personally like romantic comedies and i have watched a whole lot of them, i watched this movie with out any expectations and was pleasantly surprised, even though the story was like been there seen that kind.Five minutes in to the movie there was a smile on my face, there were some comedy scenes which made you laugh-out loudly and acting by Mel Gibson was carefree and charming, while Helen Hunt had not much to do.
One thing that was done well was how Mel Gibson's character acted when he found out he could here what women were thinking.
Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt have good chemistry.
But I started liking Helen Hunt from that movie :) Actually there are a lot of such films with the same plot and everything but this one is different because of the actors' performance and just the atmosphere.
And yeah - he is good-looking, he is charming, why not make a movie, were he can read women thoughts!It's all funny and entertaining cause of all the thinking you get the abbility to listen on.
I thought the way Mel Gibson suddenly developed his gift of being able to hear what women think by electrocuting himself was a bit silly, but then again so is the whole film!Gibson's performance was good, as was Helen Hunt's, who played his love interest.
However, if you're a fan of Mel Gibson and you like romantic comedies that aren't too challenging, then What Women Want is perfect for you..
I especially like the chemistry between Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt.
Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt's characters are really cool and they both bring the potential that the character has in him/her.Overall the whole is very intelligent and cool and I like this movie a lot.