CAST: TARAJI P. HENSON, TRACY MORGAN, ALDIS HODGE, WENDI MCLENDON-COVEY, JOSH BRENER, TAMALA JONES AND PHOEBE ROBINSON
DIRECTED BY: ADAM SHANKMAN
RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 8, 2019
What Men Want is an edgy comedy about a woman who gains the power to hear men’s thoughts. Taraji P. Henson is hysterical in one of her most outrageous comedies yet. The film, which thus far has grossed more than $42 million at the box office, has been receiving positive reviews from critic and fans alike. With a run time of 1 hour and 57 minutes the film is full of laughs that leaves the audience wanting more.
The film begins by introducing Ali Davis (Taraji P. Henson) as an ambitious female sports agent who strongly desires to become a partner at her agency. However, Ali is a terribly insensitive person. Throughout the movie she quite frequently discredits her assistant, constantly makes her colleagues feel unimportant, and overall treats other people badly. The company is very impressed by Ali’s expertise as a sport agent, which can clearly be seen by her top notch clientele. She provides excellent service to professional athletes, but her work is just not enough to keep up with the pig-headed men in the company. One particular line in the film has Ali’s boss telling her, “You don’t connect well with men, just stay in your lane”, meaning that she should focus primarily on female clients.
Ali’s boiling point is reached when her keen skills are overlooked as she loses a partner role to a male co-agent. After the disappointing day, she meets a freaky psychic woman (Erykah Badu) who tells her that she can help her relate better with men. Later, Ali drinks a tea mixture, given to her by the medium, which makes her feel somewhat strange. She embraces her weird new feelings and decides to go to a club and party where she slips and hits her head. After being taken to the hospital, she awakens with the ability to hear men’s thoughts and the shenanigans of the movie begins.
What Men Want did a wonderful job at sharing insight on discrimination against women within the workplace. Viewers get to see what some women go through on a daily basis especially in male-dominated workplaces. Director, Adam Shankman, gave the movie a broader appeal by combining comedy and real life issues such as sexism.
I give What Men Want 9 stars out of 10 stars.