What Women Want – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

What Women Want

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

movie2000

38%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

Mel Gibson's ad exec gets magic mind-reading powers and uses them to...advance his career? Yeah, this premise hasn't aged well.

6.5/10

53%

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What Women Want

movie

PG-13, 2000

38%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

Mel Gibson's ad exec gets magic mind-reading powers and uses them to...advance his career? Yeah, this premise hasn't aged well.

6.5

53%

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Screenwise Verdict

Look, What Women Want had a fun premise in 2000, but it's 2025 now and this movie feels like watching your dad try to explain feminism. The whole setup—'chauvinistic guy magically learns women have inner lives'—is just...not it.

The bigger issue is that the protagonist uses his mind-reading powers to manipulate situations and advance his career, which undermines any empathy lessons the movie tries to teach. It's ethically sketchy even within its own logic.

Mediare reviews across the board (53% critics, 47 Metacritic, 2.8/5 Letterboxd) suggest this wasn't a masterpiece even when it came out. Now? It's a dated time capsule of early-2000s gender dynamics that most kids would find boring and most adults would find cringey.

If you want a rom-com about learning to see women as full humans, there are better options that don't require the guy to have literal superpowers to get there. This one's skippable unless you're doing a 'movies that aged poorly' film studies project.

Age Fit

Common Sense Media says 15+, which tracks—this is firmly teen territory due to sexual content and workplace dynamics. But honestly, most modern teens would find this dated and kind of boring. It's really more for nostalgic adults who remember when this was peak rom-com.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

The premise centers on a 'cocky, chauvinistic' protagonist—a setup that relies on outdated gender stereotypes for its comedy. While the character presumably grows, the journey involves him exploiting women's private thoughts for professional gain. The tone leans heavily on early-2000s gender dynamics that feel uncomfortable by today's standards, with workplace behavior that wouldn't fly now. Not particularly kind or cooperative modeling for most of its runtime.

Imaginative

The magical-realism premise of hearing women's thoughts is genuinely creative and offers some interesting exploration of perspective-taking. However, the execution is fairly conventional rom-com territory—it's more high-concept hook than truly imaginative storytelling. Doesn't invite much creative expression or exploration beyond the initial 'what if' scenario. Solidly imaginative premise, predictable execution.

Safe

PG-13 era content with some sexual innuendo, adult workplace situations, and likely some objectifying humor given the premise. Common Sense Media rates it 15+, suggesting mature themes. No extreme violence or gore, but the 'chauvinistic' setup means there's likely uncomfortable gender dynamics and potentially inappropriate workplace behavior played for laughs. The premise itself involves invasion of privacy (hearing thoughts) which could be unsettling. Not shocking by R-rated standards, but definitely not family-friendly.

Enriching

There's a redemption arc built in—learning to understand women's perspectives could offer empathy lessons. However, the framing is problematic: a man needs literal magic powers to see women as full humans. The 'growth' is from an extremely low baseline. Mixed critical reception (53% RT critics, 47 Metacritic) suggests it doesn't deliver particularly meaningful insights. Entertainment value exists (6.5 IMDb suggests watchable), but enrichment is superficial at best. Any lessons about empathy are undermined by the dated gender politics.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

The high-concept premise is genuinely clever—what if you could literally hear what the opposite gender thinks?
There's a built-in empathy lesson about understanding different perspectives (even if it requires literal magic)
Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt are charismatic leads who elevate the material
Could spark discussions about gender dynamics, workplace behavior, and the importance of listening

⚠

What to Watch For

The entire setup is 'chauvinistic guy learns women are people'—which is a LOW bar and feels cringey now
Sexual innuendo and workplace situations that are firmly in the teen-and-up category
The protagonist literally invades women's privacy (their thoughts) and uses it for professional gain, which is...ethically yikes
Early-2000s gender stereotypes throughout—this is a time capsule of what passed for 'progressive' rom-com in 2000

Conversation Starters

"If you could hear what people were thinking, would you? What would be the ethical problems with that?"
"Why do you think it takes magic powers for this guy to understand women? What does that say about the movie's view of men?"
"How have ideas about gender and workplace behavior changed since 2000? What wouldn't fly today?"
"Is it okay to use private information (even thoughts you accidentally hear) to get ahead at work?"

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