What Women Want is a 2000 American film, directed by Nancy Meyers and starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. The movie achieved enormous success with a domestic gross of $182,811,707 and a worldwide gross of $374,111,707, against a budget of $40 million. As of June 2008 this movie holds the distinction of being the highest-grossing film to be directed by a female.

Plot

Nick Marshall (Mel Gibson), a Chicago ad executive who grew up with his Las Vegas showgirl mother - and so has an alpha male view of women, which works well for him when it comes to getting men to buy beer or cars or getting most women (such as a coffee attendant Marisa Tomei at a local shop) to fawn over him. However, just as he thinks he's heading for a promotion, his manager Dan (Alan Alda) informs him that he needs to hire the talents of Darcy McGuire (Helen Hunt) to keep the ad company 'fresh' and get new clients. Thus, his ego is bruised and he gives the cold shoulder to Darcy in the process.