"My idea has always been that if we could bring the mothers of various nations together, then there would be no more war."
--- Vanessa Redgrave...~HOWARD'S END~

Romantic comedy formula (especially as written and directed by a female)= Insensitive or boorish male lead treats women as his playthings meets a strong woman who threatens his "power", transforms himself through self introspection, becomes a sensitive caring guy and gets together with the female lead.

Mel Gibson plays Nick (will it be St. Nick or Ol' Nick the devil) a boorish advertising exec. He is expecting to become creative director of his agency but is told by weaselly boss (Alan Alda) that a woman (Helen Hunt) is to be the creative director to tap into that all important and powerful female market. Darcy (Hunt) had been a whiz at BBD&O (a giant in the ad world) and it is a coup for this smaller agency to get her. In order to get into what women want, Nick tries out womens products at home such as lipstick, hair wax, and panty hose. A freak accidental electrocution doesn't kill him but gives him the ability to hear the thoughts of any woman. He uses this ability to steal Darcy's creative ideas, thus making his star rise higher within the company. While trying to undermine Darcy, he finds himself falling for her at the same time. He also has a fling with a ditzy coffeeshop clerk (Marisa Tomei). His estranged daughter (Ashley Johnson) gives him problems while living with him since his ex-wife (Lauren Holly) is on her honeymoon. There is also another side story with a suicidal errand girl in the office.

The performance by the actors are excellent. Gibson shows he can handle comedy very well as well as action that he is famous for. Hunt is comfortable as the tough yet vulnerable executive. Tomei is back in her element after the mis-shot as a psychiatrist in that Keanu Reeves stalker movie. The gags are pretty funny. The problem with this movie is that it tries to do too much with the side stories and just makes it into a rambling bore after a while. It is strictly formula with a couple of twists but the main story just takes too long to unfold with too much emphasis on the daughter's story and the suicidal girl. Too tell everything the film tried to tell, it would have been better served by a 4 hour tv mini-series or soap. Instead those stories are short-changed and the main story gets to a point where I was saying "all-right get together already and quit playing games."

My grade- B-

Rated PG-13 for sexual situations and language.