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I must admit, from the first moment I heard Mel Gibson is in yet another film where he plays his own charming self, I was skeptical of his ability to deliver the goods. It can be seen in his recent appearances in 'The Patriot' and 'Ransom' that Melˇ¦s looks are no longer comparable to a fine Bordeaux which ages well. However, I was pleasantly by his latest performance in 'What Women Want' and as the title of the film suggests, Mel Gibson proves his ageless charm to be irresistible as ever. 'What Women Want' is the second directorial feature film of Nancy Myers. Her debut feature 'The Parent Trap' was mediocre but prior to her directing, she was better known as both a producer and a screen writer with films like 'Father of The Bride'.
The story of 'What Women Want' centers on Nick Marshall (Gibson), a divorced advertising executive who is ambitious and chauvinistic. He is irrepressibly charming and a natural leader amongst men but despite his uncanny womanizing ability, his understanding of the opposite sex is both outdated and patronizing ˇV nobody's perfect!
Nick is on the verge of getting promoted to the top job in his advertising agency in Chicago but all seems well until he is stepped over from newcomer, Darcy Maguire (Helen Hunt ˇV 'Cast Away' and 'As Good As It Gets') whose feminine approach to advertising is what the company business needed. One night, Nick returns home to experiment new feminine beauty products, in hope to achieve a creative breakthrough. In what I think is a memorable scene, Nick undertake a crude and consequentially hilarious attempt at practicing female beauty rituals. Nick embarrassed and disillusioned with his experiment, has a domestic accident which leaves him unconscious and when he wakes up, he finds himself able to hear the private thoughts of women. Shocked by the revelation of how his female acquaintances despise his chauvinistic character, he enters a state of confusion and insanity. His desperation draws him to visit his forgotten shrink who ironically is a woman. The shrink (delightfully played by Bette Midler but sadly only a cameo role) enlightens Nick on the endless potential of his newly acquired gift. The film kicks itself into fourth gear as we witness Nick re-embracing his masculine attitudes with a, now limitless, advantage. At work, he exploits Darcy without her knowledge to gain brownie points within the agency, in what begins as a predictable wind-down to the film with an all-so gratuitously corny finale.
Marisa Tomei deserves a special mention as Lola, the aspiring yet neurotic cafe waitress who, being one of Nickˇ¦s conquests, became a circumstantial and unfortunate victim of the main plot. Tomei was surprisingly outstanding in her role and subtly stole my affection. What a fairy tale ending it would have been if Nick and Lola had gotten together!
The character of Nick Marshall seems to be tailored made for Jack Nicholson and like Nicholson, Gibson shows he too has this abundant extrasensory charm. To my recollection, Mel Gibson must be the only Hollywood tough guy who has successfully transformed his onscreen macho persona to comedic roles. Proving himself to be light years ahead of Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and even Bruce Willis. But this is perhaps not a surprise because since the 'Lethal Weapon' series, he has always fused light comical touches to his acting and has never been as wooden as his counterparts. Gibson deserves to be heartily congratulated for pulling off such a fine job and I will not be surprised that whenever Mel feels the need to buy another horse for his 20,000 acre ranch in Montana, he will end up participating in another one of many films as a cloned version of Nick Marshall
In conclusion, I must confess I was entertained by 'What Women Want', despite it is quintessentially a 'chick-flick': a category of popular culture I try to consciously avoid like Sanrio's 'Hello Kitty'! Although the film is utterly predictable, it is a fine piece of commercial entertainment with solid performances all round. Even as a member of the male audience, I am forced to admit: maybe chick-flicks are not that bad afterall?
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