What Women Want (UK)

It`s a great idea for a film:- a man is able to hear what women are thinking and can therefore use this gift to his advantage....The possibilities are endless!, sadly though, the filmmakers didn`t push the concept enough for it to fulfil it`s potential.

Although it`s supposed to be a comedy (and tries hard), the "funny" parts feel rather forced. The early sections of the film have Gibson talking to himself "exposition style" and have him clowning around in his bathroom. Maybe the role was written with a comedian in mind, because several scenes rely on the main actor to be endearing/comical and Gibson falls a little short IMO. He`s a perfectly acceptable actor and usually very watchable, but when left alone in this film he seems a bit mis-cast. If they concentrated on the sci-fi/drama elements then he would have been perfect, but time and time again I felt slightly embarrassed on his behalf!. Maybe I`m over-stating things a little and he certainly got away with it, but I don`t think they played to Mel`s strengths at all.

Parts of the story show him utilising his "gift" and second-guessing Hunt`s character to great effect and in this part of the film I derived some limited entertainment, but overall I found it to be muddled and too old-fashioned. The soundtrack is dreadfully limp and uses the expected rom-com formula without too many changes, even the "modern" CD`s he obtains from his daughter are Meredith Brooks and Alanis Morissette (hardly up-to-the-minute) the rest of the music is the usual cheesy Sinatra snore-tunes.

They blew the film (for me anyway), when he`s walking down the street and can hear all those women at the same time (okay so far), but then he hears what a poodle says too??!. Rather than think "Oh my god! I can understand animals!" he just mentions it by-the-by and ignores it for the rest of the picture. So that was an overly stupid and childish thing to include and doesn`t gel at all with the heavy drama they lay on near the end.

So, that`s my feeling really, although there are some intriguing moments and some mildly funny ones, the whole thing hangs together very badly. The tone is quite indistinct and the final third is both tiresome and mis-judged at the same time. I suppose I`m being pretty harsh, but that`s because they`ve wasted such an interesting set-up and it`s a crying shame.

The A/V quality on the disc is great though and the thunder-storms sound particularly enveloping and realistic. The disc has a commentary, a few interviews and all the usual press-pack stuff, but the elaborate menu`s may lead you to expect more.

Basically then, an acceptable (but disappointing) movie. It tries really hard to please everyone and as such, misses the mark. It`s okay to rent and forget about I suppose, but I wouldn`t recommend buying it.