What Men Want

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1:04

What Men Want

R

2019

1h 57m

Romance

Comedy

Fantasy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

41%

Tomatometer

149 Reviews

40%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Passed up for a well-deserved promotion, sports agent Ali Davis wonders what else she needs to do to succeed in a man's world. Hoping to find answers from a psychic, Ali drinks a weird concoction that suddenly allows her to hear what men are thinking. Using her newfound ability, Ali starts to turn the tables on her obnoxious male colleagues while racing to sign the next basketball superstar.

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Critics Consensus

Admittedly uneven but easy to like, What Men Want proves a gender-swapped remake can work -- and the odds are substantially improved with Taraji P. Henson in the lead.

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Claudia Puig

FilmWeek (LAist)

09/18/2019

Felt like it might have had some sharpness and some bite, but ended up being defanged.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

03/20/2019

2/5

An excellent cast elevates a wacky, crowded script with too few, actual jokes and a disappointingly conventional denouement.

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Mark Kermode

Kermode & Mayo's Film Review

03/19/2019

The outtakes are funnier than what's in the film.

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Calum Cooper

Source (Scotland)

07/14/2024

2/5

Hensen’s charisma and acting prowess isn’t enough to save this product, resulting in a film with good intentions, but not enough narrative or comedic substance to keep it afloat.

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M.N. Miller

Ready Steady Cut

08/17/2022

2/5

Henson deserves better.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

03/04/2022

2.5/4

Henson is affable, even endearing at times in what amounts to an entertaining and funny comedy that has no staying power once the end credits begin to roll.

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Garry F

@ZestyWiggle 1d

Not funny. Not realistic men. Also the movie was supposed to a flip of the script gender swap, but instead of mel was surrounded by competent women, Ali is an under apricated woman surrounded by less than great men. The original was comedy, but was acted as close to straight as you could... this is more done in the style of the Will Ferrall movie were his going to prison.

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David T

@RT53691290 Nov 15

I found the movie was not funny at all, had to fast forward through it a lot a lot pointless garbage.

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Tyler B

@RT79642193 Jul 25

Just an all round terrible movie.

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TorQue M

@RT63068763 07/15/2025

Better than I was expecting, though I wasn't expecting much. I decided to watch it because of Taraji, and I'm glad I did. It wasn't great, but it was fun enough to pass the time. I'd probably rate it 60% rather than 40, but I tend to be nicer to bad movies than most.

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Hzaina T

@RT98710407 07/13/2025

Definitely NOT worth the watch. I was so excited to watch it knowing the cast, but honestly it barely has a plot, aaand it had the MOST cliche, corny ending ever. Super disappointing. Probably 1 or two proper funny moments the whole movie.

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Karl h

@RT15214307 06/17/2025

These sex reversal films , just do not work . Atleast Mel Gibson , actually seemed like a man that most men could actually relate to in the film . In this film I really can't see many women relating to taraji's version of a woman . It more just loud brash rubbish. Cringing not funny . 1 thing men don't want is to watch this pile of rubbish. It falls flat right from the beginning, and is torture every minute. I don't understand why these films are made. Next will be conana the barbarianess . It pathetic

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Adam Shankman

Director

Taraji P. Henson

Ali Davis

Tracy Morgan

Joe 'Dolla' Barry

Aldis Hodge

Will

Wendi McLendon-Covey

Olivia

Tamala Jones

Mari

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Synopsis

Passed up for a well-deserved promotion, sports agent Ali Davis wonders what else she needs to do to succeed in a man's world. Hoping to find answers from a psychic, Ali drinks a weird concoction that suddenly allows her to hear what men are thinking. Using her newfound ability, Ali starts to turn the tables on her obnoxious male colleagues while racing to sign the next basketball superstar.

Director: Adam Shankman
Producer: Will Packer, James Lopez
Screenwriter: Tina Gordon, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Will Packer Productions, Paramount Players, BET Films
Rating: R (Sexual Content Throughout|Language|Some Drug Material)
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 8, 2019, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 23, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $54.6M
Runtime: 1h 57m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)