What Women Want
Is A Good Seeing To. That statement came from a man having reply to Freud after being asked about relation to women. It still holds true today, but this Mel Gibson’s rom-com actually manages to bring an emphasis on the role of the man’s intellect and ability to listen, considering the woman’s wishes in bed. In any case, both Sigmund’s question and the film of Mel suggest the core assumption: what men want is not a high level of understanding, it’s clear and more than boring. Right?
Produced and directed by Nancy Meyers (a longtime industry stalwart and the writer of Private Benjamin, however, not many would consider her as a director), it can best be described as a nifty romantic comedy about a conceited woman-giver Nick (Gibson) who has slept with more women than he can remember owing to his rather tarnished reputation. He is an ad man who produces commercials with hot girls wearing skintight bathing suits. And he even spins Frank Sinatra records in his apartment.
But in time-honored tradition, it is a woman who puts everything in his life upside down. Alan Alda, Gibson’s employer, explains it to him that women are the ones making the purchases now, and therefore he is being outdone by someone who has a good understanding of the likes of female consumers It’s Helen Hunt once more in this instance she is in her work mode and as usual doing the best to appear in the non-threatening average American woman is pure Hollywood’s definition of beauty.
Looking for an explanation on the whole woman business Mel unintentionally electrocutes himself in his restroom only to find his ability to hear women’s thoughts through extreme telepathy: he is Empathy Man with X-Ray Hearing, a self-appointed hero, who engages in sabotaging ideas of Helen in the office and amps up his record of being active with dames.
This could have been more interesting, and for sure more bold, if it has been more ambiguous: the ability of Nick is to hear what women think is depicted in a shotgun approach where it is impossible for him to say if it is something he can actually do or it is a case of delusions at its worst. This is all those comments that without the context appear to be silly are actually very laudable, which fits perfectly in town, so all of them remember the hero much better than they would ever want to see.
There’s a selling point about Mel that is never really revealed in the film, you know, we can read him. He doesn’t require some weird abilities to fathom what Mel’s thinking. With the lovable simpleton Mel, what you see is what you get. Its just these tine women that seem to be oh so sphynx. But this is the greatest turron of all. There is more to this than just having you get into their head, which, meant getting into ‘The Other’ ontology a little.
What Women Want could have been thoroughly delicious and vicious bitter satire, a genre for which Neil LaBute would have been great director. But, of course, something that shows Mel in a bad light will never do. Oh, but this loathsome lizard is supposed to be likable! From the very first page he is described as a darling.
In some ways, his character reminded me of Nicholas Cage as well in The Family Man, a successful playboy surviving through a woman’s faith. But there was something in that film, however abhorrent, that penetrated deeper and more brutally into the vulgarity of the soon-to-be-overworked single woman.
In this case, Mel is nothing more than a doll. When he gets out of bed in the morning, he sneaks a playful slap on his maid’s buttocks while she laughs in good humor. If he ever listens to women thinking about him, it is normally flattering. For progress of for instance, he never hears a voice wishing “God, look at the woman’s fucking haircut then.”
While in the process of getting her into bed, he is at first distracted by the fact that some women prefer a larger and meatier manhood than what he has. It is a little odd to hear such things but even still, he concentrates and listens to women’s desires and when he goes to bed with one, she begs him for more because he is irresistible.
He swears there are only two types of women: “Fifty percent wish monkey beats women over the head with an erect penis.” One scene towards the end, showing a clearly feministic point of view Mel possibly gets carried away. Wishing to awaken his buddy and assert that Freud was totally wrong. “Women do not like human beings with males!”, she screams.
What do women want? The question gives a particularly commercial edge to the work which Helen is engaged and describes the role she plays in: “employed to evaluate the unmet needs of women in terms of products and services developed.”
It however emerges here that they seek to attain the professional equality with men; nd they also want a case and sensitive partner. And from the 15 year old daughter from his previous marriage, Mela learns that they want a father who is simply There For Them.
These everlasting emotional issues overshadow the fact of women wanting to break through the glass ceiling and take more of the finite number of top jobs available, and the more cruel of this question’s z-sum thingy is brushed aside for the cloying sweetness of Helen and Mel suddenly falling for each other.
What Women Want is a picture that wishes to have an apple and see it in sight since despite making Mel appear to give up a portion of his sexual and professional standing to women, he still remains a 105 success in sex appealing. Yet it does this with a certain degree of brio, and helps by Ashley Johnson playing Alex, Mel’s daughter, in a decent performance. Unless you are busy, you could do worse for a Friday watching this.
For more movies Visit Gomovies.