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What Women Want
***
Rated on a 4-star scale
Screening venue: Warner Village (Birkenhead Conway Park)
Released in the UK by Icon on February 2, 2001; certificate 12; 127 minutes;
country of origin USA; aspect ratio 1.85:1
Directed by Nancy Meyers; produced by
Susan Cartsonis, Bruce Davey, Gina Matthews, Nancy
Meyers, Matt Williams.
Written by Josh Goldsmith, Cathy Yutspa; from a story by John
Goldsmith, Diane Drake, Cathy Yutspa.
Photographed by Dean Cundey; edited by Thomas J. Nordberg,
Stephen A. Rotter.
CAST.....
Mel Gibson..... Nick Marshall
Helen Hunt..... Darcy Maguire
Marisa Tomei..... Lola
Mark Feuerstein..... Morgan Farwell
Laren Holly..... Gigi
Ashley Johnson..... Alex Marshall
Judy Greer..... Erin
Alan Alda..... Dan Wanamaker
Ah, a sigh of relief and a giggle of pleasure,
for this example of the right way to make a fantasy comedy. "What Women
Want" exploits its promising premise with inventive wit, knowing
that when we see stories about normal people in magical or supernatural
circumstances, we picture how we'd react and let our imaginations run wild.
It might not be up to the standard of "Back to the Future", but it sure is
a great contrast to a movie like "The Family Man", in which Nicolas Cage
found himself in a different version of his life and simply wandered round
with a gormless expression for two hours, half trying to fit in, half refusing
to understand what was going on.
Mel Gibson stars as a supercilious ad exec who
sees himself as God's gift to women, and gets a rude awakening after a bathroom
electrocution somehow gives him the ability to hear the thoughts of all the
ladies around him. In a lesser movie, it would take him half the running
time to realise what's going on, and there would be one or two big tacky
gags before a conclusion of soppy, unconditional repentance. Granted, the
film as it stands does have a reasonably sentimental ending, but preceding
it is well-structured comedy, with good little moments regarding Gibson's
gift throughout. His ability leads him into pulling a sexy Starbucks waitress
(Marisa Tomei), falling in love with a colleague played by Helen Hunt and
understanding how to woo her, getting into the mind of his daughter and bettering
their relationship, and helping out a suicidal office girl. There are also
cute side moments, such as when Gibson walks into his place of work and finds
out what the gals really think of him, and funny set-pieces, like
when he stumbles into a parade of female joggers in the park and finds himself
overcome.
If all this sounds like the screenwriters have
been following a checklist, well, it doesn't feel like that watching the
movie -- it just seems like the filmmakers have gone down as many comic and
emotional avenues as they can without outstaying their welcome. Gibson, as
usual, does well in the lead role -- he has the gift of being able to seem
cocksure in a way that's both charming and silly, so it makes sense to cast
him as a character who needs to be a smooth, sympathetic hero and the butt
of fortune's wicked jokes.
There's nothing revolutionary about "What Women
Want", but as big-budget romantic comedy goes, it's excellent -- after "The
Family Man", the creativity of its screenplay seems like genius; Gibson and
Hunt are charismatic lead actors; and the feel of the picture is pleasant
and luxurious, with artists like Sinatra on the soundtrack, and rich photography
of Chicago, the city with the most beautiful buildings in the
world.
COPYRIGHT©
2001 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
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