"What Men Want" Movie Review

The first thing that any reader who's curious about What Men Want should know is it is for mature audiences only. Don't take your teens with you, thinking it'll be harmless playful fun like its predecessor What Women Want. Go with your friends who you can laugh with and enjoy yourselves without having to shift awkwardly in your seat. Trust me, there's so much raunchy humor in here, it'd make Bad Moms blush.

The film follows Ali Davis, the only black female sports agent in her workplace. She's constantly being overlooked and boxed out by her male coworkers and she's sick of it. Her boss Nick Ivers tells her that her problem is she can't relate to men very well. After a night out with her girlfriends, and a strange psychic, Ali wakes to discover she has the power to hear men's thoughts. She thinks this would be the perfect way to get ahead of her male competitors and sign the biggest name in basketball: Jamal Barry. The final obstacle in her path? Impressing Jamal's eccentric father Joe 'Dolla' Barry.

The big positive this film had going for it was how well the cast worked. Taraji P. Henson showed her comedic side, which isn't something we see very often but it's certainly well within her range of talent. She has an absolutely gorgeous smile and it was nice to actually see it in her film. Tracy Morgan makes a film comeback with his strange but lovable dad character. And welcome back, Tamala Jones! I haven't seen her in much of anything since Castle ended so it was a welcome surprise to see her again.

The negative cloud that hung over the film was its overuse of raunchiness. There's basically three levels: the tease (a small amount), the funny (a moderate amount), and the overuse (the point where it's too much). It sat on the borderline between moderate and too much and sometimes could get a little annoying. Thankfully, most of that annoyance is only in the first 30 minutes so the rest of the film is very much enjoyable.

In conclusion, I thought that with Taraji in the lead that What Men Want would be a funny but meaningful film. It did have some touching moments that people can learn from, but it's mostly just for people who want to relax and laugh and not think too much. I give the film a 2.5 out of 4.