What Women Want (2000)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Nancy Meyers

Writers (WGA):

Josh Goldsmith (story) &
Cathy Yuspa (story) ...

Release Date:

15 December 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

He has the power to hear everything women are thinking. Finally... a man is listening.

Plot:

After an accident, a chauvenistic executive gains the ability to hear what women are really thinking.

Plot Keywords:

Advertising | Thought | Sabotage | Online Auction | Man Pretending To Be Gay

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Mel Gibson	...	Nick Marshall
Helen Hunt	...	Darcy McGuire
Marisa Tomei	...	Lola
Alan Alda	...	Dan Wanamaker
Ashley Johnson	...	Alex Marshall
Mark Feuerstein	...	Morgan Farwell
Lauren Holly	...	Gigi
Delta Burke	...	Eve
Valerie Perrine	...	Margo
Judy Greer	...	Erin the File Girl
Sarah Paulson	...	Annie, Nick's Secretary
Ana Gasteyer	...	Sue Cranston
Lisa Edelstein	...	Dina
Loretta Devine	...	Flo the Doorwoman
Diana-Maria Riva	...	Stella

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language.

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #37911) | Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-7 | France:U | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:IIB | Hungary:14 | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Norway:7 | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:7 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The poem that Nick (Mel Gibson) starts reciting in order to keep from hearing his daughter's thoughts when he walk in on her and her boyfriend is "Casey At The Bat" written by Ernest Lawrence Thayer in 1888.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Nick and Dan are talking in Dan's office at the beginning of the movie (when Nick is expecting to get promoted) Dan says, "You know I'm not good at making speeches, especially when I don't have you to write them for me." His lips don't match what he says.

Quotes:

Nick Marshall: Okay, gotta think like a broad, gotta think like a broad... okay. I'm a broad...
[closes his eyes]
Nick Marshall: I see... lipstick. On a Tahitian beauty under a waterfall, wearing nothing by a thong, cold water cascading down her ba...
Nick Marshall: [his eyes pop open] I'm a lesbian!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Saturday Night Live: Jon Stewart/India.Arie (#27.14)" (2002)

Soundtrack:

We Think It's Love

My wife will kill me....!

Well, to like this film, you've really got to like the lovely Mel. And while he's had his moments in the past, he is just starting to get .... on.... my....nerves. OK, the character is _meant_ to be obnoxious, in order to give the film its comedic spin, but boy does Mel smarm and squirm his way through the role. 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. It's almost as if the great Mel decided there just wasn't enough room in the film for anything else.