What Women Want (2011)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

I wanted to but couldn't!

Good concept, poorly executed.

Awesome Movie

I (a falang American) watched this out of curiosity, to see what a Chinese version of this sort of movie is like. Obviously one can't generalize from one movie, but all I can say it that, for the sake of Chinese audiences, I hope that most of their Rom Com directors are more skilled than Daming Chen. Regarding the movie itself, I'll repeat the comments of most other reviewers. Gong Li is as gorgeous as ever, but that's all she is --- a pretty face that exists to move the plot along. Andy Lau's character, on the other hand, is not neutral but vile. And he doesn't get better as the movie progresses --- he's the same dick at the end that he was at the beginning. It's not just that there's no chemistry between the two, it's that you don't want chemistry between them. Also don't expect any laughs along the way --- this fits the Rom Com mold, but has none of the comedy that could be wrung from the situation. The budget (as suggested by the stars, the decent lighting and costumes, the sets/locations) suggest a high-end movie, but the actual content --- everything from the clumsy and didactic story to the lack of humor or subtlety --- suggests the sort of sad movies you see on an indie TV channel late at night starring Hollywood hopefuls you've never heard of, in some direct to DVD garbage. What is interesting is the image of China it presents. The buildings shown are all incredibly new and, while I expect the intention was to present some sort of air of glamor, to me it felt extremely nouveau riche. The buildings struck me as not so much Manhattan as Brasilia --- designed based on theory rather than on human needs, and likely to be showing cracks and flaws in just a few years. There's one scene where we see our heroine in a car driving down a highway which struck me as the one scene where Chinese reality enters --- the highway is lousy and narrow, with few cars on it --- something like what the Pasadena Freeway may have looked like when it opened in 1940, and nothing at all like the general highways of Los Angeles today. The second image of China it presents is of a country that has not yet undergone the "psychologicalization" of America. The characters seem unable to relate to each other or discuss their inner lives in a way that Americans (helped by TV and movies) had already achieved by the early 70s or so. The clumsiness of the dialog doesn't help, sure, but it seems that there's more than that, that the screenwriter honestly doesn't know (or at least doesn't expect the audience to know) how to be introspective, how to have a theory of mind, how to interpret other people. They go through the motions (we get the occasional sermon on "being honest") but there's no follow-through, no appreciation of the relevant issues. You get the feeling that if you told the Andy Lau character to be vulnerable, to honestly communicate, he'd have no idea what that even meant; or that if you told Gong Li's character that she allows herself to be a doormat, she'd not understand the point you were making.

What Women Want is a Chinese romantic comedy film that presents two of the most popular Chinese movie stars - Gong Li and Andy Lau - for their first historic collaboration.It was written and directed by Chen Daming. The story takes place mostly in an advertising company in Beijing, in which slick advertising executive gets acquainted with his new talented competition.The film was a remake of the 2000 hit What Women Want starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt.Chauvinistic advertising executive Sun Zigang gains the power to read women's thoughts in a bathroom mishap, and becomes an instant expert on all things related to the fairer sex while scheming to steal the ideas of an ambitious female colleague. Sun's personal life is falling apart; his wife has left him for another man, and his adolescent daughter gives him nothing but attitude. None of this really fazes Sun, though, because all he can think about is getting promoted to creative director at the advertising agency where he works. But when distinguished executive Li Yilong swoops in from another firm and snatches the job right from under Sun's nose, the incensed cad starts to fear that his career may be over. Later, while attempting to soothe his frazzled nerves with some wine and a warm bath, Sun dons women's clothing in a drunken bid to better understand the opposite sex, accidentally knocks a lamp in the bathtub, and gets the shock of his life. Upon regaining consciousness, Sun finds himself in the hospital, and quickly realizes that he now possesses the power to know what women are thinking. At first Sun decides to have some fun around the office by expounding on his uncanny insight into the opposite sex, but when he begins using his newfound abilities to steal Yilong's ideas, he finally pushes things too far. The film has brilliant acting from both Gong Li and Andy Lau.They have great chemistry and provide fireworks during their scenes.Unfortunately,there is more to be desired from the screenplay.The comedy rarely provides laughter and the story is contrived and predictable.Nevertheless,it manages to provide entertainment with the presence of the biggest stars from China.Actress Margot Kidder said,"A good movie can be made from a bad script". I think that this Chinese remake falls into that category.I give it a mild recommendation especially for the fans of the stars involved in the film.

A superficial remake of Hollywood counterpart...Although, What Women Want is what you proclaim as efficient, it is not a movie that affects or has any effect on you. At least that is the case, if you have seen the far superior Hollywood movie starring Mel Gibson. The problem is not the story, but rather the way the film is directed. There is absolutely no creativity or ambition, instead what the audience receive is a safe scene by scene re-dux into Chinese. If not for the attractiveness and on-screen presence of the leads, Andy Lau and Gong Li, the film would be almost unwatchable. With the two, What Women Want gets attention and with attention comes a decently made, polish production values and purely commercialised Mainland product.One of the Achilles heels of this movie is the pairing of Gong Li and Andy Lau. There is absolutely no love chemistry in the pairing. If there is any sort of chemistry it will be that of brotherly and sisterly love. In effect, the film is doomed to have any chance of real success when the main romantic leads fail the first hurdle. In saying that, whenever the two is on-screen, there is an automatic "big star" presence about them. This not only lifts the movie up a notch, but makes the film a watchable affair from start to finish without lurking into boredom.All in all, What Women Want is not a bad movie, in fact is more into the positive territory than not. The fact is that it is inevitable that any remake will be compare with its predecessor and in this case, the Hollywood original actually worked in all departments and even manages to convince. Sometimes, a safe bet is reasonable, but to copy scene by scene, it just lacks any sort of creativity that could have made the film better than it is. Using the idea and premises of knowing what women is feeling rather than a carbon copy can be a start. Still, What Women Want is an efficient and largely average entertain that does not ignite or fails. Watch the original, before indulging into this hugely average affair...(Neo 2011) I rate it 6/10www.thehkneo.com

Andy Lau and Gong Li are two of the most attractive and charismatic superstars of their age and it's a perfect dream match in this romance comedy. However the film itself fails terribly and is considered mediocre at best, putting such great cast potential to a pitiful waste. The best reward is a visual treat of two fabulous personalities trying to work chemistry on the big screen.After walking out of the theatre from this film, a raging question enveloped me."How did two of the greatest Asian superstars agree to such a lacklustre film?"Most of us will have to admit that it is such a pleasure to have them on the same big screen as it surely satisfies audience members of both genders and thus holding great opportunities to appeal towards a massive audience size. Whenever I see Andy Lau working his charms on a well-composed Gong Li, it makes me wonder why youthful couples are always featured where you only get sweet puppy love and none of the enriched personalities sported by these two timeless veterans.Nevertheless, there is only that much these superstars can aid a bad film.What Women Want follows Benny Chan's successful remake of Hollywood's "Cellular" in another Asian attempt at similar, this time of a romance comedy genre. However it is interesting to see the project being entrusted into someone who is inexperienced with bid budget productions, which proves to be fatal indeed.Poorly scripted and handled, it is said that it retains a high level of adherence to the original. Possibly a source of creativity and flair deadlock as the filmmakers are merely trying to shadow an original without any new blood to improve or innovate.Almost every scene is briefly tackled on screen and soon after fleets towards the next, causing the film to feel like a superficial work of neither style nor substance. The audience will find themselves trying hard to attach themselves to the cast as much as they love to (Lau and Li are simply hard to ignore).As a romance comedy, there isn't any quality comedy in it unfortunately to compensate for the lack of good romance chemistry between both leads. Aside from the occasional whacky stint by Andy Lau who dresses up in feminine fashion in the first half of the film, dialogues were pretty much one-two liners that were shallow and uninspiring.The best parts of the film can be easily gathered as follow:1. Eye candy in the form of gorgeous Gong Li and charming Andy Lau. 2. Andy Lau sings.If these two aspects do not appeal to you in any manner, feel free to skip this film that tries hard to know what women want and has seriously neglected what the audience wants.This is clearly not a good Valentine's Day film to indulge in with your partner (It's an annual event and thus don't risk spoiling it for your other).