But when Joe admits that he’s put off by Ali’s workaholic independence, she unwittingly enlists a recent one-night stand, Will ( Aldis Hodge), and his six-year-old son Ben (Auston Jon Moore) to pretend to be her family in the hopes of scoring Jamal’s highly-coveted contract.Įven before the first male thought is revealed on screen by writers Tina Gordon (“ ATL,” “ Drumline”) and Peter Huyck and Alex Gregory (shared alumni of “Veep,” “Frasier” and “The Larry Sanders Show”), the prospect of what little there is to be learned from that inner monologue feels like a joke whose punchline we already know.
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Unfortunately, Jamal’s future is being carefully controlled by his unpredictable father Joe “Dolla” ( Tracy Morgan), whose thoughts reveal an unchecked id but little for Ali in the way of insights on how to win his confidence. But after being promised the opportunity to make partner if she signs Jamal Barry (Shane Paul McGhie), the next basketball superstar, Ali discloses these newfound abilities to her long-suffering assistant Brandon ( Josh Brener) and hatches a plan to outwit her competitors. But while cutting loose at her friend’s bachelorette party, Ali drinks some funky tea given to her by a fortune teller named Sister ( Erykah Badu) and ends up hitting her head, gaining the ability to hear her male colleagues’ thoughts. Henson (“ Hidden Figures”) plays Alison “Ali” Davis, an Atlanta sports agent growing increasingly tired of white, male colleagues getting praised and promoted while her own accomplishments are repeatedly undermined and disregarded. Henson’s fearlessly committed performance almost rescues this story of a desperately ambitious woman gifted with the ability to hear men’s innermost impulses, but director Adam Shankman’s predilection for the broadest and dumbest possible execution of any given idea undercuts any comedic bite, genuine insight or emotional resonance the film potentially had.
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But 20 years and a gender-swapped premise later, “ What Men Want” advances a depressing argument that guys are with few exceptions as competitive, sexist and simple-minded as they always were - but now, women are evidently changing to become more like them. In 2000’s “ What Women Want” it might have been snarkily revolutionary, if way late even then, to suggest that members of the so-called “fairer sex” are complex, fierce and formidable.