Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

What Men Want Blu-ray Movie Review

Is this what movie fans want?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 24, 2019

What Men Want is a gender-bender remake of the 2000 Mel Gibson Comedy What Women Want. This updated version stars Taraji P. Henson as a sports agent who cannot break through the glass ceiling until she breaks into the male mind. Director Adam Shankman's (Hairspray, The Wedding Planner) film has been carefully constructed not so much to ensure a laugh-out-loud Comedy experience but rather to ensure that the film hits all of the checkboxes necessary to appeal to the widest audience possible. It has its moments of legit humor, but the picture struggles to build cohesion around its structure, which resembles a puppy frantically wagging its tail and running about, desperate to get into everything, gain the affection of everyone, and show its cuteness to the world, even if it looks and behaves like every other puppy out there.

Ali Davis (Taraji P. Henson) is one of the most successful sports agents around. She is also one of the only females in her field. She's worked hard and put up with the "boys club" mentality, but she believes she's finally going to be made partner when her boss (Brian Bosworth) makes it known that a new agent is being brought up to the top. She is not chosen (and there wouldn't be a movie if she had been). While her friends try to console her, she has a run-in with a mysterious psychic (Erykah Badu) who -- knowingly or inadvertently -- gives Ali the ability to read men's minds. Once the initial shock wears off and Ali begins to see the potential benefits of what she now hears, she takes her newfound, and newly appreciated, power to heart and angles to use it to sign a hotshot basketball prospect, a signing that will surely land her a partnership at the agency.

The movie is unsurprisingly soulless, constructed not with concern for narrative excellence and an organic approach to humor but rather by way of careful calculation. The film's meager stabs at heart and infrequent fits of humor are occasionally enough to lift it, and it is very watchable as it's constructed, but there's so little feel for creativity through all of the forced concepts and predictable excursions through preplanned routines that any legitimate laughs and the odd successes in character building and natural story construction prove fleeting at best. The film works well enough as a watch-and-forget. It's certainly not destined to join the genre's greats (then again, few contemporary comedies even approach "classic" status; the genre is easily the most stale, predictable, and manufactured going today).

The cast is at least enthusiastic for the material. There's an unmissable buoyancy permeating throughout the movie that may as well take the shape of an invisible bouncy ball of joy that seems to jump from one actor to the next, and just in time for their speaking parts. Better cast camaraderie cannot be found, and each actor plays off the others. Of course Henson is at the center of it all, and whether she's blasting away her cares, soaking in the men's thoughts, or doing a bit of soul-searching, she finds an agreeable character depth even through the fairly trite and contrived ebbs and flows that direct her character through the course of the film. The film earns a few good support performances, notably from Aldis Hodge as Ali's kinda-sorta boyfriend, Josh Brener as her gay assistant with aspirations for more for his life but a personality that holds him down to less, and Brian Bosworth as her boss at the agency.

What Men Want Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

What Men Want makes everything known by way of a crystal-clear Blu-ray presentation. The digitally shot picture reveals excellent textural details and superb overall clarity. There's not a flat or less than ideally reproduced texture in the film. All of the basics -- skin, hair, clothes, and a number of choice environments that range from fancy sports agency offices to elevator interiors -- are in perfectly good working visual order. Colors are lively and punchy. Contrast is fairly even. The picture pushes perhaps ever so slightly warm but certainly favors a broader neutrality. Skin tones are healthy and black levels are perfectly deep. Noise is visible in lower light shots (such as when Ali first meets with the psychic in chapter three) but never egregious in density or distraction. No additional source or encode flaws are apparent.

What Men Want Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

What Men Want's Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless soundtrack supports the movie's fairly boisterous sonic needs quite well. The track is at its best in its delivery of what is a barrage of high energy Pop songs which are enjoyably robust, wide, and immersive. Clarity is excellent and the low end support is superb, giving weight and depth to what serves as the movie's sonic heartbeat, whether in the many instances when songs are overlaid atop the film or when they are an integral part of it, such as when Ali and friends go clubbing in chapter three. The track further opens with various voices emanating from all over the stage in chapter four when Ali gains the ability to hear thoughts. There are also some nice reverb effects at the NBA draft late in the film (Atmos would have been beneficial here, though the effects as-is are fine). Dialogue otherwise drives the film, and its presentation is without obvious flaw.

What Men Want Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

What Men Want contains a commentary, deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel, and several featurettes. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Audio Commentary: Director Adam Shankman discusses project origins, the story and themes, cast and characters, film construction, and more. It's a fairly standard track that does a good job covering the expected broad range of topics. Fans should find it to be a worthwhile listen.
• Deleted and Extended Scenes (1080p, 31:08 total runtime): Shankman introduces each scene. Included are What's There to Know About Ali Davis? - Deleted; Ali Teaches Jenna How to Deal - Deleted; The Girls Talk Boys in Mari's Kitchen - Deleted; Describe Ali in One Word - Deleted; Pre-Poker Cigar - Extended; Jami Gertz Asks Ali About Jamal's Future with The Hawks - Deleted; Movie Night at Will's - Deleted; Joyride - Deleted; Ali, All Alone - Deleted; and Ali Apologizes - Extended. With an optional general introduction by Director Adam Shankman. (0:23).
• Gag Reel (1080p, 4:53): Humorous moments from the shoot. With an introduction by Director Adam Shankman.
• The Dream Team (1080p, 15:37): The film's cultural diversity and the qualities Director Adam Shankman and his cast brought to the film.
• Flipping the Narrative (1080p, 3:32): A quick and closer look at the film's female-centric storytelling approach and why it is timely for contemporary audiences.
• What Do Men Want? (1080p, 4:29): Cast and crew answer the question in a series of rapid-fire clips.
• Poker Night (1080p, 3:51): Making the poker sequence and what it means within the larger story.
• Ali + Athletes (1080p, 2:53): A quick look at the real life athletes who appear in the film.
• Sister Spills the Tea Infomercial (1080p, 1:39): The film's psychic character appears in an ad for her business.

What Men Want Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

What Men Want is no bastion of cinema ingenuity. It's both a reimagining of a nearly 20-year-old film and a picture that seems more concerned with ticking off a checklist than doing anything original with its recycled concept. The cast is enthusiastic but...that's about it. It's an entirely forgettable and vapid picture in a genre that in its current form is growing horribly stale and predictable. Paramount's Blu-ray does deliver the goods fans want: high quality 1080p video, excellent 7.1 lossless audio, and a fairly robust assortment of extra goodies. It is to those fans only, or those in love with the current state of the Comedy genre, that this disc comes recommended.