If someone were to ask you to name one of the top five highest-grossing rom-coms of all time would you think to answer What Women Want? Despite being written by genius screenwriter Nancy Meyers, it is hard to believe this Mel Gibson film made $182.2 million USD domestically considering the main character is unapologetically misogynistic.
In What Women Want, Gibson plays Nick, who is described early on as a "man's man," idolized by other men around him. When a woman named Darcy (Helen Hunt) is promoted to creative director over Nick at an advertising company, he believes she was only hired because she of her gender and sets out to destroy her. A freak accident allows him to hear women's inner thoughts and he uses these powers first, to get a woman to sleep with him, and then to manipulate Darcy and steal her ideas. There is nothing likeable about Nick and he never actually proves he is qualified for the job (which he, thankfully doesn't get... because he falls in love with Darcy, but too little too late, bro). Add to that the fact that he straight up sexually harasses women (including at work!) throughout the first 20 minutes of the movie, and this movie warrants more than a few complaints to the HR department.
Thankfully in What Men Want, Ali plays an active role in her story and chooses to not settle for what her boss expects her role to be. The film also allows its female lead to know her worth and expect more from her workplace, whereas What Women Want prioritizes a romantic ending over Darcy being respected at her job, or respecting herself. What Men Want certainly isn't perfect, but it makes full use of its mystical premise by allowing its protagonist to become successful by not pleasing the men around her or bending to their whims (or mea culpa apologies, as is Gibson's move in the original). And that's so much more satisfying than getting the guy (which, for the record, Henson manages to do on top of everything else).