WHAT MEN WANT: Taraji P. Henson Carries This Formulaic Comedy Further Than Expected

Nostalgia for a previous era of romantic comedy seems to be all the rage lately. Isn’t It Romantic is in theaters sending up tropes of 1990s romantic comedies while simultaneously embracing them. Netflix has found a niche in cranking out teen-focused fare like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before that would pair well with similar comedies made well before breakout star Lana Condor was even born.

And, in What Men Want, a gender-swapped version of Nancy Meyers’ 2000 comedy What Women Want, Taraji P. Henson attempts to highlight sexism and racism in the workplace while making audiences laugh at the same time. Directed by Adam Shankman (Hairspray, Rock of Ages), What Men Want doesn’t offer much in the way of surprises, but thanks to the indomitable charisma of Henson and a strong supporting cast that includes Tracy Morgan and Erykah Badu (!!!), it does provide a decent amount of laughs.

It’s A Man’s World…

Ali Davis (Henson) is a hard-driving sports agent, raised solo by a father (Richard Roundtree) who owns a boxing gym. Ali expects to be made partner at the prestigious Atlanta-based agency where she works. However, when she’s passed over for the promotion in favor of yet another mediocre white man, she decides that there is one way to prove her worth to the men at the agency: she publicly announces her intention of signing the prospective number one NBA draft pick, local Atlanta boy Jamal Berry (Shane Paul McGhie).

There’s one big obstacle standing in Ali’s way: Jamal’s overbearing father, Joe (Tracy Morgan, perfectly bonkers), a character so big (and clearly inspired by LaVar Ball) that he has changed his last name to ‘Dolla’. Ali can’t figure out how to connect with Joe – or any of her male colleagues, for that matter – despite having grown up surrounded by men her whole life. So, she ends up consulting with a psychic (Erykah Badu!!!) at a bachelorette party, drinking some funky tea, and hitting her head while dancing at a club.

When Ali wakes up – you guessed it – she can hear the inner thoughts of all the men around her, including her put-upon assistant Brandon (Josh Brener) and hunky bartender love interest Will (Aldis Hodge). Yet just because she can hear everything men are thinking, doesn’t mean Ali knows how to properly listen to them and what they truly want.

Totally Taraji

Taraji P. Henson, like her character in What Men Want, seems on a mission to prove that she can do whatever her male counterparts can do onscreen, better. With her outsized talent and charisma, I don’t doubt that she can. Yet so far the scripts she’s been handed just don’t measure up. In Proud Mary, Henson showed herself capable of carrying an action-thriller just as well as Liam Neeson or Keanu Reeves; it’s just too bad that, as a whole, Proud Mary was no Taken or John Wick. In What Men Want, Henson shows a remarkable knack for physical comedy and vulgar humor while wearing tight skirts and sky-high heels that any man doing the same would keel over in. Unfortunately, the film itself doesn’t live up to her performance.

Despite the gender-swapped spin on the story, What Men Want is just as predictable as the Mel Gibson-starring original. The story hits every beat so heavily – the point when it seems things can’t get any worse, the revelation of what must be done to make things right, the final-act redemption tour – that it feels as though the writers drafted the script with one hand on their keyboards and the other hand propping open a screenwriting textbook.

The moments in which the film tries to address systemic sexism and racism, while well-intentioned and pretty remarkable for an R-rated romantic comedy, fall flat under the weight of heavy-handed dialogue. These “woke” moments feel even more awkward when contrasted with the borderline homophobic humor directed at the character of Brandon.

Fortunately, while Henson might not get any help from the script in carrying the film, she is aided by a strong supporting cast who go for broke to get some laughs. Tracy Morgan’s zany, long-winded monologues about things like smoothie ingredients are so hilarious that you may actually miss jokes from laughing too hard. Morgan isn’t doing anything you haven’t seen him do before here, but he does it so well that it doesn’t matter.

Badu is equally deranged as Sister the psychic, practically unrecognizable beneath a cloud of hair, while the trio of Wendi McLendon-Covey, Phoebe Robinson, and Tamala Jones earn their fair share of laughs as Ali’s girlfriends. Sports fans will enjoy the various humorous cameos from the likes of Lisa Leslie, Mark Cuban, and Karl-Anthony Towns, though alas, no one approaches the absurd level of awesome LeBron James attained in Trainwreck.

What Men Want: Conclusion

It’s not that What Men Want isn’t enjoyable, it’s just that, while you’re watching, you get the sense that it could have been so much more. Like Ocean’s Eight before it, this film is proof that it takes more than genderswapping to make something old new again.

What do you think? Does What Men Want sound like a worthy remake or woefully retrograde? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

What Men Want was released in the U.S. on February 8, 2019 and will be released in the UK on March 15, 2019. You can find more international release dates here.