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33 Elite Squad
80 Encounters at the End of the World
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

What Women Want
Paramount Pictures


6.3

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 17 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA 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.

GENRE(S):	Romance
WRITTEN BY:	Josh Goldsmith Cathy Yuspa (also story) Diane Drake (story)
DIRECTED BY:	Nancy Meyers
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: May 8, 2001 Video: May 8, 2001 Theatrical: December 15, 2000
RUNNING TIME:	127 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

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.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

A winner.

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

Yummy yet empty.

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.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

A merry romantic comedy in the screwball tradition.

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."

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Gibson, in a disarmingly nimble, fast break performance, makes Nick's new hyperempathy look like the essence of virile panache.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Adequately funny but predictable sitcom

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

A wobbly fantasy that relies on the actor's mischievous energy and rakish charisma for its laughs.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Without Gibson, this soufflé would fall pancake-flat.

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.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

It's never subtle or clever, but it's big, loud and clear.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

As classic romantic comedy goes, it ain't no "Tootsie."

LA Weekly Hazel-Dawn Dumpert

Narrow definitions of femininity limit the comedy and the romance.

Film.com Elizabeth Weitzman

This is not a great comedy, but it has some honest laughs, a few touching moments.

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.

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.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Disappoints.

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.

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.

Slate David Edelstein

The picture has some fun slapstick set pieces and an inventively manic turn by Gibson.

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.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Fans of bubbly romances can consider this a thumbs up. I call it a clenched-teeth concession at best.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

A vaguely amusing formulaic comedy with a premise that turns out to be more discomforting than endearing.

TV Guide Steve Simels

A wildly overblown, unpleasantly smirky mess of a film.

Film.com Robert Horton

The scene doesn't amount to much more than a logical extension of its lightweight premise.

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.

Time Richard Schickel

It just runs on and on -- like a slightly stupid story you wish you hadn't overheard in a singles bar.

Newsweek David Ansen

Has its heart in the right place, but its funnybone is out of joint.

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.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Would have proved the point if it weren't so mechanically scripted.

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.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Aggressively offensive.

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.

What Women Want Paramount Pictures

What Women Want
Paramount Pictures