I am not admirer of contemporary romantic comedies. all seems be embroideries of clichés and the result is so predictable than to see a film from this genre could be defined only as waste of time. exceptions are real rare. and What Women Want is one of them. for the idea, for the manner to develop it and for the couple Mel Gibson - Helen Hunt. this last detail is significant because it represents a good sketch for the old movies with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, the only perfect model for a film from this genre. a man discovering the secrets of the women. this is axis and, surprising, it works. sure, the ordinaries clichés are not lost in the second part. but the film remains seductive . and nice. and nostalgic. and this is its good point. for be an alternative to the too many boring small films about her and him.

Mel Gibson finds himself able to read the minds of women after a freak accident. Meanwhile, audiences find themselves able to read plot holes and poor screen writing after being enlightened by this film.Mel Gibson does a decent job in the role, although maybe that's because he's good at being a misogynistic douchebag in real life. In the film, he steps into a stew of women products conducted from his bathtub and gains the ability to read women's thoughts. And what do women think of? Complex thoughts involving life, their emotions and feelings, and/or their roles in society? Nope! Instead, women only think about dieting, being skinny, looking pretty, and smelling pretty. The women are also portrayed as schizophrenic, though this is entirely, 100% the fault of an awful director. It shows that women don't want to be loved, as Mel get's accused of being gay for "being perfectly in tune" with the woman he's dating. Yah, I totally believe woman would hate being cared for. Whenever a woman has a thought tantrum, her thoughts match that of her body movements. If she's screaming in her head, she's screaming with her body too. In one scene, Hellen Hunt accidentally stares at Mel's penis, resulting in her making these over-the-top body language movements. We as the audience can hear her thoughts, but in reality, it would be dead silent while she jumps back and fourth spinning around. This happens at least ten times in this movie.The film is abysmal, as proved by its ending, where Hunt fires Gibson but still wants to have coitus with him...and the movie just stops. Awful, awful experience in some of the laziest filmmaking in history. The film was written and directed by a woman, so I'm not sure what went wrong.

Yeah-yeah. I know that laughs and "comedy" were the intended goal of this film here, but, all the same, aren't us men supposed to be the "shallow" gender of the 2 sexes? I mean, aren't we? Like, maybe I've been all wrong about the female gender, all along - 'Cause if women really do want what this movie says that they want, then what women want seems to be exactly what men want. Which is, sad to say, fairly predictable stuff. And, so, with that in mind, I'd say that this movie pretty much renders women as being just as shallow, if not more, than us men.I find it really amazing that not only was "What Women Want" directed by a woman, but half of the screenplay credit goes to a woman, as well. With the shallow, pretentious, and petty way in which women are portrayed in this film, I was certain that not even one single woman had been consulted in any way, shape, or form to find out what they really want.Anyways - In a non-specific gender nutshell, here's "What Women Want" is all about - Mel Gibson, that big-mouthed bigot, plays Nick Marshall, a vain, womanizing S.O.B. (Hey! You know, that sounds an awful lot like Mel Gibson just playing Mel Gibson to me) One fine morning Nick gets all of his brain-circuits fried, big time, when he falls into a bathtub full of water while in the midst of blow-drying his pretty-pretty hair.One could only hope that being electrocuted in this fashion would kill Gibson/Nick instantly. But, no, unfortunately, it doesn't. And, so, for the sake of the movie, what electrocution does to Nick, instead, is it enables him to hear the thoughts of women. (Now, does that make sense to you?) Naturally, being the slimy prick that he is, Nick uses this amazing ability to his full advantage (of course, who wouldn't?) by manipulating women as best he can. Especially his new female boss, played by Helen Hunt, who just happened to land this very job position that he (being the scoundrel that he is) figured was solely entitled to him.Anyhow - To make a long story, short - If you can believe it, or not, there's actually a "romance" of sorts that transpires in all of this thought-reading nonsense that is even more far-fetched than you can ever imagine.In conclusion - If what women want really is this movie, then, all I can say is, THEY CAN BLOODY-WELL HAVE IT!! - 'Cause, being a man, I sure as hell don't want it! No way, Jose!

...this one's quite good."What Woment Want" (2000) is about a chauvinistic executive (Mel Gibson) who accidentally receives the power to hear women's thoughts, which is both scary and enlightening (and funny). Helen Hunt plays his romantic insterest while Lauren Holly is his ex-wife and Marisa Tomei his one-night stand. Ashley Johnson is also on hand as his daughter, who is shocked when she sees her distant father showing signs of really caring.The ending gets a little too mushy, but "What Women Want" is consistently entertaining throughout. It's basically a story of redemption -- a chauvinistic man learning the error of his ways in a fun way, and changing.The film runs 127 minutes and was mostly shot in Chicago with some senes in the Los Angeles area.GRADE: B+