What Women Want

Mel Gibson stars in this romantic comedy as a man who can hear women's thoughts and as a result is transformed from a misogynist into a Sensitive Guy who understands his teenage daughter and falls in love with an intelligent woman less than 10 years his junior (gasp!). The chick flick equivalent of an action movie, What Women Want shows Mel's passionate kisses with Helen Hunt in slow-mo and from four or five different angles (just like a car explosion in a Lethal Weapon picture), but while it's funny early on when hunky ad executive Gibson is trying on nail polish, panty hose and a Biore strip on his nose, director Nancy Meyers (The Parent Trap remake) is ultimately too timid about taking command of her stars. She apparently thinks the mere presence of Mel Gibson or Helen Hunt is enough to bring the characters to life. It's not, and the picture therefore devolves into such a pandering celebration of estrogen that its appeal is reduced to Lifetime Channel level. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Blackwelder)