How often we see an interview with an actor where they praise their new movie and say how much fun they had making it. Inevitably, the over-hyped final product is released, or perhaps inflicted might be a better word, to theatres and you can tell the actors were lying not only about the quality of the movie, but it's obvious the entire project was probably pure hell too.
Mel Gibson has a talent like few others. He has that everyman quality best personified by Stewart, Grant, Bogart, Lemmon, and Hanks. He probably had a blast making the romantic comedy What Women Want, one of last year's best of that genre, and it looks like most of the cast did too.
Gibson plays Nick Marshall, a womanizing ad executive whose ears are opened one day after an inexplicable electricity accident that gives him the ability to hear women's thoughts. The filmmakers charge so confidently into the material that it is easy to forget about the feasibility of the situation. Actually, once the film settles in, it plays like a 1940s comedy, including several crooner soundtrack songs, and the familiar "deception" plot, complete with a last-minute confession to the woman he loves. Gibson is pitch-perfect here and completely owns the film, providing equal doses of glib and maniacism necessary to pull off the part. Helen Hunt is adequate as the rival creative director Darcy Maguire, but she's obviously hovering over familiar romantic comedy material here so we're not seeing anything new. Marisa Tomei is excellent as the anxious Lola, but the screenwriters inexplicably abandon her about halfway through the picture and assume that the viewer will forget her well-written character as easily as Gibson has. Bette Midler has a great cameo as a therapist, and there is a fine subplot about a suicidal employee named Erin (Judy Greer) that proves quite touching.
I smiled a lot throughout this picture, but I didn't laugh very much. Maybe that's because the subject matter is a little familiar in moviedom, bringing to mind some scenes from Liar, Liar, Some Like It Hot, Tootsie, and of course As Good As It Gets. I guess, speaking as a guy, I was more compelled to listen to each scene unfold and fight the curious urge to grab a pen (as Gibson does in one scene) than to burst into hysterics. Among the more memorable moments is a sex scene where Mel is able to magnificently manipulate his mojo to Marisa's most minute movements. The aftermath is quite funny.
A theory that I have been carefully nurturing for some time now is that romantic comedies are getting stupider and stupider. I look at box office returns and wonder how Adam Sandler and Mel Gibson can both command $20 million a picture. I'm thankful that at least as far as bankable movie stars go, Gibson chooses some pretty decent scripts. What Women Want isn't ambitious, but it's a fun ride and, since it's directed by a woman, the only question that remains is how much of those overheard thoughts are actually true...
