What Men Want

He Said -by Donnell M. Regusters

Producer Will Packer has made a name for himself in Hollywood by producing a lot of comedies with an array of Black talent that do very well at the box office. Films like Girls Trip think like a Man, Ride Along and Wedding Ringer has made Will Packer a hot commodity in Hollywood. His most recent picture is a “re-imagining” of Mel Gibson’s film "What Women Want" renamed" What Men Want " directed by Adam Shankman (The Wedding Planner, Hairspray 2007 remake) I walked into the film with subdued expectations. I remember thinking to myself, self why do I want to see Taraji in a movie Mel Gibson already made. To my surprise, I enjoyed the film. "What Men Want" flips the original movie by taking us into the mind of all the men she encounters. Some may say, do we want to know what goes on in the minds of men, but that is where the comedy begins. She finds that the random thoughts of men can go all over the place and that having access to the mind of so many can be exhausting.

Taraji plays Ali Davis a dynamic woman who works as a successful sports agent. She is a woman in a field that is dominated by men but can play rough and tumble with the guys and knows her value. To her surprise, she is passed over for what she thought was a well-deserved promotion by her boss played by Brian Bosworth. Yes, the Boz plays Ali’s boss, and he was surprisingly good. Ali can’t figure out what else she needs to do to move up in her company. After a night out drinking with her girls and an encounter with a psychic played by Erykah Badu. She receives a blow to the head and awakens to find out she can hear what men are thinking.

It was refreshing to see actors who don’t usually do comedy holding their own with a great comedic talent like Tracey Morgan who plays the father of the number 1 draft pick. That scenario alone should give you an idea into the foolishness she will encounter.

Aldis Hodge portrays a single father she meets out at a bar for a one-night stand. He comes to her office to see her at the perfect time. Now she can show off her man. The man that she is fabricating to be her husband to gain access to the executive suite.

The film is entertaining inserted with a few lessons. Not lessons that beat you over the head but life lessons you get from just observations. For instance like when Aldis Hodge and Richard Roundtree are together. Here are two Black men on screen bonding between generations. It’s something we don’t see often. It felt warm and genuine. The chemistry they exuded on screen is something I would like to see in a drama featuring them as father and son. Their scenes showed me more about what men want then all the mind reading Ali could do.

I don’t think I walked away knowing What Men Want, but I did walk away laughing. The film has an R rating for language and sex, but it felt like it was a film you could watch with your teenager or your parents. One of those lazy day weekend films you can sit back and enjoy with your family.