What Men Want (2019) Movie Review

WHAT MEN WANT (2019) MOVIE REVIEW

Gender-swapping in films is something that is far from a new idea in hollywood however in these current times, it seems that every new movie must give in to double standards and the idea of gender-swapping roles for the sake of 'newer audiences'. Director Adam Shankman's latest comedic endeavour What Men Want is the latest to follow in this repetitive trend though does put a clever spin on the idea in terms of the position the protagonist is put into but unfortunately is executed poorly.

When female sports agent Ali Davis is continually upstaged by her ego-driven co-workers and their 'boy's club', she falls into a miniature state of depression though is soon re-motivated after a physic accidentally imbues her with the power to read male's minds. Despite putting a unique spin on 2000 Mel Gibson film What Women Want, many plot holes and lazy story elements makes the movie a struggle to sit through and doesn't provide any reason to care for the characters and their problems as the movie slowly progresses and comes to it's all too predictable conclusion. 

While the story may be the movie's biggest let down, the comedy does provide a few decent chuckles here and there. However one or two decent jokes doesn't excuse the rest of the movie's humour seemingly relying solely on what one gender is thinking of ramped up to 11. That's not to say that the actors and actresses do a terrible job. Taraji Henson is the star of the movie in more ways than one as not only displays strong attributes as a business women but mixes it with phenomenal reactions and actually displays emotion towards the film's conclusion. Everyone else does fine for the most part and do their jobs averagely with no one besides the previously mentioned Henson. 

Believe me I wish there was more to say about What Men Want but ultimately it's not a movie that requires much thought process going into which is a real shame. With double standards becoming a key factor in what films get remade and reintroduced to younger audiences, it would have been nice to see a movie that subtilely addresses this long standing catalyst of controversy. Alas, we are given a movie that doesn't focuses too much on easy and cringe worth sexual jokes and not enough on standards in workplaces primarily surrounded by opposite genders. It could have been a new look into a problem that has been prevalent for a number of decades but ends up being just another comedy void of little to no effort. 

OVERALL

4 / 10