4/5 A Fun, Sentimental Comedy
  by Raymond E. Parker (Los Angeles, Ca.)
When I first began to watch "What Women Want" I thought "Here we go again", another silly comedy with tons of sex jokes, right? Wrong! This film is very sweet and charming and might I add well written and directed. Mel Gibson plays a playboy ad executive who verges on the misogynistic. One day, during a freak electrical storm (is there any other kind?) he is zapped and wakes up with the ability to read women's thoughts. At firs he abuses this newfound power to bed them, but soon figures out how to help women with their problems. His reading of their minds lets him know the insecurities that women have, and helps him connect with his daughter. My favorite section of this film is when Gibson visits the home of one of his employees who's condidering suicide and talks her out of it. The performances are all top-notch, but I must give honorable mention to Marissa Tomei who almost steals the pic form Helen hunt and Gibson. She plays a struggling actress who moonlights as a barrista in the building where Mel works. She has been hurt by many men and is hesitant in going out again. Mel, thanks to his super-powers, manages a date with her. It's on this date that Marissa's emotions run the gamut. Overall this is a feel good movie, that ALL men should see.

5/5 The Fall From Fashion
  by Lee Armstrong (Winterville, NC United States)
I recently caught a smidgen of this film on cable; so I when I saw it in the budget bin I snapped it up. I liked the film when it first came out, but I think it's aged well. Director Nancy Meyers likes does a tremendous job putting together the talent and keeping the pace brisk. She's directed "Something's Gotta Give" & The Holiday. She gets that comedy is means, but telling a good story is the end. Nick Marshall's becoming a man who has compassion is a lovely story, well told. Mel Gibson plays the lead character with charm, wit and moxie. I particularly love the scene where he puts Sinatra on the phonograph and dances joyfully around the room. The panty hose scene had me in hysterics. In the DVD extras, Gibson comments on how Hunt is SO good that you feel that she is in the whole movie, even though her screen time is limited. As Darcy Macguire, Hunt delivers a blockbuster, nuanced performance, comic, romantic and dazzling. Hunt won the Oscar & Golden Globe for "As Good as It Gets." In this film, I particularly like the moment where she fires Nick. I've seen this film before, yet find myself continually surprised. Helen Hunt raves about Marisa Tomei's performance in the film in the DVD extras. As Lola, Tomei comes on like a whirlwind as the coffee shop girl who doesn't want to be romantically hurt. Tomei won her Oscar for "My Cousin Vinny" and was nominated for "In the Bedroom." She is superb.

Smaller roles also offer strong support. Alan Alda plays the head of the advertising agency, Dan Wanamaker. Alda got his Oscar nomination for The Aviator. His brief screen appearances are filled with energy. Mark Feuerstein who was in "Defiance" plays Nick's coworker Morgan Farwell. Bette Midler has a cameo as Nick's psychiatrist. Delta Burke plays Eve and Valerie Perrine plays Margo, Marshall's office assists. They have one of the great gags of the film when Nick tries to read their minds, but no thoughts are going on. Ashley Johnson from TV's "Growing Pains" plays Nick's daughter. His increasingly close relationship with her is another heartwarming element that makes this film worth revisiting. Lauren Holly from "Ace Ventura" has a brief cameo as Ashley's mother Gigi. Judy Greer from "27 Dresses" & The Amateurs has a moving role as the shy office girl Erin who thinks of ending her life. "What Women Want" is a great film because it is life affirming, showing us that understanding and compassion never fall out of fashion. Enjoy!

3/5 Review by a Guy who subscribes to the Alphabet of Manliness
  by Bachelier (Ile de France)
First, the bad things: formulaic chick flic. Make that CHICK FLIC. The other bad thing, is Helen Hunt is as dry and unappealing as always (she sleepwalks through her performance, I'm not sure she ever felt pain at all when she was "acting" emotionally distraught). In addition, there aren't enough laughs to keep a guy interested when his girlfriend/wife makes him watch this. In addition, the "thoughts" that women have in the movie are both far too PG and PC to be believable, and any man who swallows that crap is doomed. This is what women would like to think of themselves thinking, not what they really think about most of the time (not that I would know, which is the point, right?). Alan Alda smarms his way through another role where he can't stop calling attention to the fact that he is Alan Alda. Would someone take up a collection for some acting classes for this lame-O, please?
The good things: Mel Gibson gives a stunning performance as a man's man advertising executive who must reinvent himself as a meterosexual when his new boss arrives (Hunt) and starts dropping the Swedish Bikini Team advertising techniques to go after women-customer target accounts. This is delightful tension and a delightful plot twist.
Director Nancy Meyers does a superb job, both in framing shots and making the visual narrative match the script and tone setting of the dialogue. There is some flavor of Chicago in the film which adds to the aura.
But the best thing Meyers did, other than her mistakes with Alan Alda and Helen Hunt, is the casting. All the secondary women characters have real women's bodies, not the faux emaciated size zero everyone has defaulted to expect in films nowadays. For example, Delta Burke is featured in a role where her curves are simply normal both in relative and absolute terms to all other women characters. This was an excellent decision, and Meyers is amply rewarded with excellent performances from cameo and secondary characters alike. No one need ever fear that this film will promote body type anxiety.
The movie is a bit overly long, and therefore the rather abrupt closure of the film appears a bit tacked on in response to going over budget or beyond shooting schedule. But all in all this is a stomachable film for those guys who have to sit through a chick flic every now and them with your slampiece. My wife had to watch "Scareface" with me in exchange, so it was a pretty good trade.

2/5 What Women Don't Want!
  by ADRIENNE MILLER (TENNESSEE)
What Women Want was a smash hit when it was released but this romantic comedy is unfunny and way too long. Mel Gibson gives another solid performance but I just couldn't relate to this film and I am a woman! Helen Hunt was so over-rated when this film was making millions of dollars at the box office but jeez you never hear anything about her anymore, her ship has sailed. This is a movie you rent or borrow from a friend, not worth purchasing!

5/5 Why movies could be too long ...
  by Brennan Gordon (San Francisco, CA, USA)
The movie starts a little emotional. Nick (Mel Gibson) is so arrogant that he doesn't even notice, what people around him happen to think about him. When Darcy (Helen Hunt) is promoted as his boss, his philosophy of life crumbles ... From this point, the movie makes a very enjoyable comedy. The audience is delivered quite a good insight into his moral -- compared to his workmates, who are astonished, what a man Nick actually can be. Yet, as soon as he falls in love with Darcy, the whole film is drawn slowly but irresistibly towards a drama losing much of its potential. It seems that Nancy Meyers tried to combine the funny plot with an appealing drama. Unfortunately, the movie just can't cope with such a claim. The performances of Gibson and Hunt are remarkable. Particularly the scene he plays Fred Astaire in, made me laugh heartily. Altogether, I give this movie 8 of 10 points, since it _is_ worth watching. But the second half could have been either cut or improved !