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Year One
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
What Women Want

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 33 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 17 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Romance
Written by:
Josh Goldsmith
Cathy Yuspa (also story)
Diane Drake (story)
Directed by: Nancy Meyers
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 15, 2000
DVD: May 8, 2001
Running Time: 127 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for sexual content and language
Starring Mel Gibson, Helen Hunt, Marisa Tomei, Bette Midler, and Lauren Holly
When Nick Marshall (Gibson), an ad executive and male chauvinist has an accident, he finds he has gained the ability to hear what women are thinking. As time passes, this phenomenon starts to change his behavior.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Something's Gotta Give The Holiday The Parent Trap
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
A frequently hilarious exercise in one sex desperately trying to figure out the other.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Marc Caro
Delivers on the promise of its playful premise, thanks to some sly gender role reversals and Gibson's willingness to play along.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
A merry romantic comedy in the screwball tradition.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
If the movie is imperfect, it's not boring and is often very funny, as in a solo dance that Nick does in his apartment, to Frank Sinatra singing "I Won't Dance."
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Gibson, in a disarmingly nimble, fast break performance, makes Nick's new hyperempathy look like the essence of virile panache.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
A wobbly fantasy that relies on the actor's mischievous energy and rakish charisma for its laughs.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Without Gibson, this soufflé would fall pancake-flat.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Sheer energy and audience allure to burn, even if numerous speed bumps cause many of the comic possibilities to go tumbling overboard.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
It's never subtle or clever, but it's big, loud and clear.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
As classic romantic comedy goes, it ain't no "Tootsie."
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Hazel-Dawn Dumpert
Narrow definitions of femininity limit the comedy and the romance.
Read Full Review >Film.com Elizabeth Weitzman
This is not a great comedy, but it has some honest laughs, a few touching moments.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Starts with a great idea, but the movie's potential drops faster than the tech stocks on the Nasdaq.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
It's like 90 minutes of teasing foreplay, and then, just when it's about to get really good, your partner rolls over and goes to sleep.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The dialogue isn't quite as sparkling and the plot twists aren't quite as snappy as you want them to be. And the story keeps rambling on after its oomph runs wearisomely thin.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
The movie's gimmick for airing the contents of a woman's head is not unlike that used for the dogs and tots in those "Look Who's Talking" movies.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
The picture has some fun slapstick set pieces and an inventively manic turn by Gibson.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
Gibson and the overexposed Hunt don't exactly burn up the screen, not that it much matters. The charm isn't in the relationship, it's in Gibson's puckish appeal.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Fans of bubbly romances can consider this a thumbs up. I call it a clenched-teeth concession at best.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
A vaguely amusing formulaic comedy with a premise that turns out to be more discomforting than endearing.
Read Full Review >Film.com Robert Horton
The scene doesn't amount to much more than a logical extension of its lightweight premise.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Amy Taubin
Gibson has never lacked chemistry with his leading ladies, from Sigourney Weaver in "The Year of Living Dangerously" to Julia Roberts in "Conspiracy Theory," but faced with the awkward Hunt -- Hollywood's bland antidote to the Lolita syndrome -- he doesn't even try.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
It just runs on and on -- like a slightly stupid story you wish you hadn't overheard in a singles bar.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
Has its heart in the right place, but its funnybone is out of joint.
Read Full Review >TNT RoughCut Susannah Breslin
Shallow characters the audience cares little about, an unbelievable situation rather than a potent plot, and, for those who don’t find men-in-pantyhose or poodle-poop jokes hilarious, not many funny lines.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
Would have proved the point if it weren't so mechanically scripted.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky
Really, what women want is what all of us want: a decent movie, something vaguely insightful and occasionally funny. This isn't that movie.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.3 (out of 10) based on 17 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jim M. gave it a10:
Mel Gibson's charming performance shines in an otherwise moderately amusing movie. He's become the best comedic leading man I've seen in a very long time--maybe ever. I'd have to go all the way back to Cary Grant to find anybody even comparable, but Gibson offers accessibility and vulnerability that Grant never had. He even makes romance with Helen Hunt believable. Marisa Tomei is good too, beautiful and sweet. I give it a 10 because Mel Gibson is so astonishingly good. Otherwise it'd get about a 4.
Chris H. gave it a0:
Awful, brainless, misogynist tripe.
Chuck Y. gave it a 4:
I liked the concept of the film, and the first half was hilarious. However, the second half fell apart, and the film as a whole seemed to be preaching a stupid "men are bad, women are good" idea. This movie would have been a total turkey without gibson.
Melanie gave it a 9:
I loved this movie. It was great to see a man learn to understand exactly how hard it is to be a woman in this world. Mel Gibson was great. It was hillarious and a great movie to watch.
Mike H. gave it a 7:
Funny and lighthearted: exactly what I expected going in.
Steve S. gave it a 2:
A silly empty movie that made little sense.
Michael C. gave it a 6:
There are funny parts, but not frequently enough. Without Mel Gibson's superb presence, this would be disastrous.
