StephenPaul C
LOL, the funniest 02 hours: and 02 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Featuring Regina Hall and Kevin Hart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
07/14/23
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Classic, movie gets better with time.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/20/23
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Funny and original; ages 13+!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/28/23
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Audience Member
Think Like A Man is less of a movie than a two-hour ad for Steve Harvey's book. Steve Harvey is mentioned by name in many points throughout the movie, a few times—too many times—in reference to his hosting Family Feud (seriously, why would anyone want to emphasize that that's what they're known for?). He is presented as a sort of guru, showing up at times to re-hash advice from his book and move the story along. His advice is seen as a solution to the relationship problems of every woman dating or trying to find a man, with the main message being that all men think the same, and women must essentially play by their rules to get their way. Somehow, even while pointing out flaws in many men's characters, such as the aversion to hearing a woman wanting to have a "talk," these ideas are reinforced and seen as logical. In the movie, even Lauren's child echoes the views of the older men, that a woman wanting to have a talk with her boyfriend can't mean anything good. Despite this, the way culture shapes the way these men behave and think is never explored. Instead, these ideas are presented as ingrained into a man's nature, unchangeable.
To cover all of the content in his book, it's jam-packed with poorly thought-out characters with unclear motivations, leading to a nonsensical conflict and unsatisfying resolutions. There are nine main characters: 4 women and five men. Mama's Boy and Unmarried White Boy lie for seemingly no reason to get their way. Dom is an aspiring chef who can't keep a job. The Player is. Well, a player. Kris can't communicate to save her life. Lauren's personality is work until suddenly the movie wants you to believe it isn't. Candace is a single mother who wants to find a good dad for her kid. Mya is a reformed slut who wants a man who'll stick around.
By far, Dom is the most likable character, followed by Ced. Dom was motivated to be a better man by Lauren's expectations. While the other men were looking for shortcuts to keep their women around, Dom strived to make an actual business plan, and the night he planned for Lauren as well as the food he cooked was real. Dom is not without his flaws, typed as "The Dreamer," viewers are introduced to him as he tells his then-girlfriend that he's quit his job to chase his dream of becoming a chef. The girlfriend lists Dom's three previous "dreams" before dumping him. These previous "dreams" are never brought up again throughout the movie. Dom is seen as wholeheartedly aiming to be a chef, for some reason. What sets being a chef apart from the rest?
Dom's ex is shown in a bad light throughout the movie, including a subtle reference to her when Dom says he's glad to hear that Lauren is supportive of his dreams. The problem is, it seems like there are more problems with Dom than him being a poor "Dreamer." Quitting your job and changing career paths at least three times doesn't scream "dreamer," it screams impulsive and lacking direction. Quitting may not have been the only problem with Dom's work ethic in the last relationship. In the first scene of him working, he steals a fancy car he was supposed to be driving back to its owner. In the second scene of him working, he bumps into another waiter while trying not to be spotted by Lauren, who's giving a speech at the venue he's catering at. Food spills everywhere. Who's to say that this behavior is not on par for Dom? None of the boys seemed shocked that Dom had lost his job, nor his reckless and irresponsible actions that led to it. Many women will support a dreamer who's down on his luck but not a man who quits his jobs regularly and lacks work ethic.
Nevertheless, Dom has gotten his life together by the end of the movie. The most unsatisfying part of his relationship arc was actually due to Lauren. All Lauren talks about throughout the movie is work and men, never speaking of any romantic expectations. Suddenly, at the end of the movie, we're expected to believe that all along she wanted the romance, not material markers of success.
Unmarried White Boy had potential, truly. With more depth, he'd be a character worth rooting for. Unmarried White Boy is mentally stuck in college. He's a typical nerdy stoner, but his childish home, stagnant job growth, and most importantly, his lack of proposing are things his girlfriend, Kris, simply cannot stand. After finding the book, he lies to Kris about sending in his resume to a more prestigious job. His aversion to applying for this job is never explained and is perplexing, considering his excitement when he gets it at the end of the movie. The way I see it, there are two most probable reasons he didn't apply for the job. Considering the ending, the most probable is that he was too insecure to apply. He didn't want to face the disappointment of failing to get the job, so he didn't try. Him facing his insecurities would have been a great way to see him grow as a person throughout the movie. It also would have explained a lot of his behavior and made it easier to support Kris for forcing change onto him. The couch, chair, posters, and action figures could all be explained by his fear of change. The relationship's dynamic would change from a woman trying to force a man to be who she wants him to be, to a woman pushing her man to face his inner demons and become the person he truly wants to be.
The second explanation for his aversion to applying for the job is that he was happy with his current job and didn't desire a more "grown-up" position. This is unlikely, considering his excitement for getting the job at the end. Still, it reveals a deep flaw with how Kris handled her and her boyfriend's seemingly unaligned goals. Not everyone wants to "grow up." Some men are okay living with old, beat-up couches, action figures on the shelves, and Atari posters on the wall. Some men don't want to get married. In real life, you cannot just force someone to change. You discuss your life goals with them, and if they want different things, it's probably better that you split up.
Mama's Boy's arc was insufferable, and he should not have ended up with Candace. Like Unmarried White Boy, his solution to his woman expecting a change from him was to lie. Unlike Unmarried White Boy, I can't think of any justification for his actions. He's simply a childish coward. Instead of facing his mother and setting boundaries, he changes his mom's contact name to "Work" and tells Candace he's going to work when he goes to see his mom. He breaks Candace's trust by saying that she's the number one woman in his life, knowing that he has no intention of making that a reality. Lying doesn't even fit Mama's Boy's character. His cheap conflict is a product of lazy writing.
A much more satisfying and sensible conflict would have been him struggling to set boundaries with his overbearing and relationship-sabotaging mother, harming the relationship with his mother as well as Candace. The resolution could have been him sticking up to his mother in front of Candace. Mama's Boy does stick up to his mother toward the end of the movie, but the scene is unsatisfying because not only was there no build-up, but his mother acts out of character. Despite everything we've seen of her to the contrary, she suddenly agrees that Candace can be Mama's Boy's Number One. The fact that she was only trying to get him out of the house doesn't help because that means she'll probably go back on her word. As a side note, what would've happened if his mother hadn't accepted his proclamation that Candace would be his priority? He'd been shown to have no backbone. He and Candace's resolution seemed entirely circumstantial rather than built-up to. Speaking of Candace, she had no depth and didn't grow at all through the story.
Next is The Player, who I don't have much to say about. He's even more generic than the other characters. He goes from only wanting sex to falling in love as soon as a woman decides to wait a while for sex (and coincidentally also has an uncle willing to him a record deal). Surprisingly, The Player's arc is the most believable. He goes on dates with a girl, telling himself he's just waiting until they have sex for him to leave. Throughout the movie, he talks about how he's going to break up with her because he isn't getting any, but he can't bring himself to do it. He likes spending time with her and eventually falls in love. The only thing of note is that he sang a trash song Mya likes. He contradicts himself twice. On one date, he tells Mya that he's not interested in making music, but the next, he's so excited after being told that her uncle wants to sign with him he says, "I love you." He also contradicts himself by saying in the middle of the movie that he was close to a record deal for his music but later says that only 2 relatives have heard it.
Mya was another bland character with no growth. As a reformed hoe, she just wanted a man who'd stay with her the morning after. Embarrassingly, she was impressed by the lyrics, "Last night I had a dream about a dream about you." She had an uncle who works in the music industry but couldn't keep her story straight about when her uncle heard The Player's music or whether her uncle wanted to sign him to his label or not. She was just as contradictory as The Player. Even her clothes didn't make sense. Although we see her try to be a bit more modest on the first date to not be "sports fish," by the nightcap date, her dress has gotten noticeably shorter, with her even having to pull it down as she gets out of the car. Now, I'm not trying to judge her clothing choices, but she's just so inconsistent. Could the wardrobe designers not raid a religious Black Christian woman's closet for some inspiration?
Mya ends up giving up "the cookie" early after The Player professes those 3 magic words, but the morning after, as The Player is out getting breakfast, she finds the book in The Player's drawer. She assumes he lied about loving her to get into her pants and, surprisingly, leaves for good. They're reunited when Mya goes to a diner, and The Player is there to sing a song to her. I find it unlikely that Mya wouldn't have gone back for some closure after finding the book. Her main goal was getting a man to stay, which The Player did. Was she not curious at all about why he brought her breakfast and coffee if his only goal was sex? Even if she was too stubborn to go back and get some answers,
I'm sure her friend would have convinced her.
The comic relief character, Ced, was a pretty good character, second to Dom. His character wasn't fleshed out, but it didn't need to be. He was going through a divorce. His character was funny in a low-brow way, but I enjoyed it. He couldn't stop talking about his wife, showing that he missed her. His constant complaints against her made their reconciliation at the end make sense, as corny as it was. Speaking of their reconciliation, it was brought on by the Married White Guy discussing his duties as a husband and the sacrifices that came with it. Married White Guy was a good character. He didn't say much, but that can just be chalked up to him being the quiet friend. The writers didn't try to make him into any more than he was meant to be: a plot device.
Overall, the conflicts were forced, the resolutions were forced, the characters were as shallow as a kiddie pool, and the resolutions were unsatisfactory.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/27/23
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Audience Member
If you're a feminist this would be a good movie to watch if you wanna break something.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
01/19/23
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Audience Member
A great cast make an average movie above average. I can't believe a world in which characters actually took Steve Harvey's advice. It's so busy tracking courtship as if it were a science project that the love stories lack spontaneity.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/08/23
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