What Men Want (2019)

Directed by: Adam Shankman | 117 minutes | comedy, fantasy, romance | Actors: Taraji P. Henson, Kristen Ledlow, Josh Brener, Kellan Lutz

Despite its serious lack of depth, 2000’s What Women Want, grossing $375 million worldwide, was a huge box office success. This film by Nancy Meyers revolved around an arrogant playboy played by Mel Gibson who uses women as a wipe. When he ends up in a full bathtub with a hair dryer and is electrocuted, he suddenly has a special gift: he can read the minds of women. He is shocked when he discovers that he is deeply disliked by most women and he decides to use his newfound ability to outdo his colleague Darcy (Helen Hunt) and steal the promotion right in front of her. However, he never thought he would fall in love with her. A light-hearted, no-nonsense comedy, perhaps with a slightly stale concept, which attracted the female audience in particular to the halls en masse. Although there has been talk for years about making a remake of this film, but then told from the female perspective – Cameron Diaz was once in the picture for the lead role – it took until 2019 before that film would come. Creative poverty has definitely struck Hollywood…

Not Diaz, but Taraji P. Henson stars in ‘What Men Want’, directed by Adam Shankman (‘Hairspray’, 2007). Her Ali Davis is a tough aunt, with more ‘balls’ than many a man. She curses like a boatman, uses her elbows to advance in her career, acts aggressively when she wants to pick up a man and is quite self-centered in life. As a manager of successful athletes, she does very well, but the promotion that is due to her always misses her. According to her boss (Brian Bosworth), this is because she does not understand well what goes on in men (almost her entire clientele consists of female top athletes, but of the Serena Williams level). And so Ali sets her sights on bringing in Jamal Barry (Shane Paul McGhie), a great basketball talent who is about to be picked first in the annual NBA draft. To blow off some steam after the missed promotion, Ali’s loyal and humble assistant Brandon (Josh Brener) sends her to the bachelor party of her friend Mari (Tamala Jones), where a hairdresser cum drug dealer (played wonderfully over the top by singer Erykah Badu) has her Haitian tea. If she then also gets a blow to her head when going out, her life is turned upside down. From the moment she wakes up in the hospital, she appears to be able to hear/read the thoughts of men.

Of course that results in the necessary comical outpourings, but most men seem to have rather superficial thoughts (usually about well-shaped ladies’ bottoms) and the flat humor doesn’t work out well nine times out of ten. Only the contrast between what pumpjack Brandon says and what he thinks is actually funny. Ali decides to use her newly acquired superpower to head straight for her goal: to bring in Jamal Barry. She has to deal with the boy’s father, a caricature played by Tracy Morgan who goes by the name Joe Dolla (!) and who indicates not to trust women who do not have a family. And so Ali puts the handsome bartender and widower Will (Aldis Hodge), with whom she had a one-night stand but then treated less well, and his six-year-old son as her family; mind you, without informing them of her plan. Of course, the deception comes true and Ali has to dig deep to correct her mistakes.

Women in ‘man roles’, it’s one of the trends in Hollywood today. Although Ali from ‘What Men Want’ does have more prejudices to fight against than her male counterpart from ‘What Women Want’; she tries to secure her place in a tough man’s world, tries her best and then is told that she can never become a partner in the company just because of her womanhood. There’s a really interesting feminist angle there waiting to be threaded into the story. However, Shankman and screenwriters Tina Gordon, Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck chose to elaborate an already unoriginal premise with an abundance of predictable and lame jokes. Taraji P. Henson is a talented actress who has earned her spurs for a long time; would she use this role to let off some steam? Because you can’t call it subtle. Through her chats with her father (Richard ‘Shaft’ Roundtree!) we are presented with fragments of the backstory, but not enough to make Ali Davis a flesh and blood character. This is somewhat offset by the fact that her character does go through a certain development – she learns to rely more on her own strength, instead of constantly comparing herself to her male colleagues – but that message gets to us in the last twenty minutes. quite forced down the throat.

Remains about a bland comedy where you think every once in a while ‘would that have been a little more subtle’. There is still something to enjoy for sports enthusiasts; big names from the NBA (Karl-Anthony Towns, Shaquille O’Neal, Grant Hill, John Collins and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban), WNBA (Lisa Leslie), and NFL (Devonta Freeman) make cameos.