Think Like A Man 2012 - Movie Review and Critic
Director: Tim Story
Writers: Steve Harvey (book), Keith Merryman (screenplay)
Stars: Chris Brown, Gabrielle Union, Kevin Hart
Cantankerous Critic: ‘Think Like A Man’ Might As Well Be The Book
By MICHAEL WALTERS, CBS Chicago
Grade: D+. It’s a fantasy world where the book is treated as the holiest thing this side of the Torah, and people are practically fighting to get a copy in line. But the material could barely sustain a single episode of a sitcom it seems to have sprung from, much less a sprawling two hour short cuts like tapestry filled with lots of people, but not a single character among them.
Review: Think Like A Man
by Tim Hall, seattlepi
Although the film is set up as a romantic comedy, Think Like A Man is surprisingly funny. Yes there are lines that will make you cringe and tons of unrealistic plot set ups that are meant to push the movie along – but that’s Rom-Com 101. What drives the film is comedian Kevin Hart who plays Cedric, the film’s narrator and a man going through a divorce who’s not optimistic about his friend’s relationships. Hart’s hilarious antics helped insure the film’s romantic drama did not outweigh the comedy. Fans of the book and moviegoers will appreciate his performance.
I’ll be the first to admit the film has two relationships too many, but Romany Malco (The 40 Year Old Virgin) and Megan Good steal the show as the film’s most believable couple. Zeke, the smooth talking player, runs into Mya, the girl who just implemented her ninety-day rule. Their relationship is funny, caring, and most of all interesting. Watching the two attempting to date with separate agendas is some of the film’s best dramatic and comedic moments.
REVIEW: Think Like a Man a Rowdy, Charming Battle of the Sexes — With Steve Harvey
By: Alison Willmore, Movieline
Think Like a Man's set in a sleek, upscale version of Los Angeles, the racial makeup of its ensemble neither a thematic focus nor left uncommented on — it's just another part of the goodnatured banter thrown around between the guys. Hart is made to carry a large part of the comedic burden, and while his motormouthed shtick is initially tiresome, he gets funnier and funnier as the film goes along, shining especially when he insists his friends play what turns out to be a selection of professional basketball players (including Ron Artest and Lisa Leslie) for the right to their court. Chris Brown is among the other celebrity cameos, and actually manages to be amusing as a shifty lothario who creeps out of Mya's bed after a night together and keeps getting her name wrong when he runs into her on the street.
And of course, there's Harvey himself, appearing to deliver lectures on various TV screens. With characters this charming, his appearances feel more like intrusions, but it's entertaining to see the various women try out his recommended lines on their men — "What are your long-term goals?"
A woman's guide to winning dates
By Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post
But you don't have to buy into Harvey's portrayal of sexual gamesmanship and manipulation to take in the myriad pleasures of "Think Like a Man," in which director Tim Story makes the most of his attractive and accomplished cast and, with glancing references to books like "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" and rapper AMG, manages to sound a clear, distinctively hip pop-cultural dog whistle. (And an occasionally unwelcome one, especially when it traffics in tired, unfunny gay jokes.)
It's on this level - which co-star Ealy recently described as "that beautiful black aesthetic" - that "Think Like a Man" is best appreciated. Forget hackneyed cliches about Players and Dreamers and the scheming women who seek to domesticate them. Focus on the pleasures of watching a group of gifted actors spar and seduce each other with genuine war
Don't 'Think' about it
By Farran Smith Nehme, NEW YORK POST
There are too many couples. And there’s no suspense, since we’re hardly going to get a screenplay that suggests Harvey’s bromides don’t actually work.
The sole visual interest comes not from director Tim Story (“Barbershop”) but from the actors. Most are devastatingly attractive and talented, though the ersatz Jerry Lewis voice and tics of Kevin Hart (as the Happily Divorced Guy) are an acquired taste.
Advice books presume that human behavior can be broken into a small number of highly predictable patterns. Movies thrive on individuality and at least the illusion that we can surprise each other from time to time.
Think Like a Man
By Brian Lowry, variety.com
Best known for "Barbershop" before his sojourn into the spandex-clad world of "Fantastic Four," Story does deliver some funny moments, and incorporates enough cameos (including NBA players, Chris Brown and radio/TV host Wendy Williams) to leave few marketing stones unturned.
That said, some scenes drag on interminably, particularly when the women or guys are alone discussing dating strategies. One sequence in which the warring factions separately recount a date brings to mind the "Summer Lovin'?" number from "Grease," only with less music and more drawn out. There's also something rather quaint, frankly, about the premise of a dating-advice book being so influential, as if there were a dearth of them, or Oprah's Book Club were still in its heyday.
Pic does make good use of its Los Angeles environs and an expansive soundtrack, especially in the more romantic moments. Kudos, too, to the glamorous way the movie adorns its leading ladies. Ultimately, though, "Think Like a Man" dilutes its strengths -- perhaps because nobody bothered to think like an editor.
'Think Like a Man,' 2 stars
by Barbara VanDenburgh, azcentral
In fairness, "Think Like a Man" isn't trying to re-invent the wheel. It's an ensemble comedy with a low bar to clear, and the cast makes an honest go of it. Michael Ealy is a gentle, dreamy-eyed hunk as Dominic, a lowly prep cook looking to charm Taraji P. Henson's Lauren, a business woman who's way out of his league.
There's real chemistry in some of the pairings, especially between Meagan Good's confident Mya and Romany Malco's game-playing Zeke.Genuine tension crackles between them as Mya resolves not to "open the cookie jar" (so to speak) until after 90 days of dating.
But the laughs are too infrequent and lazy to do the cast justice. And there are enough mean-spirited gay jokes that you can keep a tally (eight by my count, after it occurred to me to start keeping track).
Writers: Steve Harvey (book), Keith Merryman (screenplay)
Stars: Chris Brown, Gabrielle Union, Kevin Hart
Cantankerous Critic: ‘Think Like A Man’ Might As Well Be The Book
By MICHAEL WALTERS, CBS Chicago
Grade: D+. It’s a fantasy world where the book is treated as the holiest thing this side of the Torah, and people are practically fighting to get a copy in line. But the material could barely sustain a single episode of a sitcom it seems to have sprung from, much less a sprawling two hour short cuts like tapestry filled with lots of people, but not a single character among them.
Review: Think Like A Man
by Tim Hall, seattlepi
Although the film is set up as a romantic comedy, Think Like A Man is surprisingly funny. Yes there are lines that will make you cringe and tons of unrealistic plot set ups that are meant to push the movie along – but that’s Rom-Com 101. What drives the film is comedian Kevin Hart who plays Cedric, the film’s narrator and a man going through a divorce who’s not optimistic about his friend’s relationships. Hart’s hilarious antics helped insure the film’s romantic drama did not outweigh the comedy. Fans of the book and moviegoers will appreciate his performance.
I’ll be the first to admit the film has two relationships too many, but Romany Malco (The 40 Year Old Virgin) and Megan Good steal the show as the film’s most believable couple. Zeke, the smooth talking player, runs into Mya, the girl who just implemented her ninety-day rule. Their relationship is funny, caring, and most of all interesting. Watching the two attempting to date with separate agendas is some of the film’s best dramatic and comedic moments.
REVIEW: Think Like a Man a Rowdy, Charming Battle of the Sexes — With Steve Harvey
By: Alison Willmore, Movieline
Think Like a Man's set in a sleek, upscale version of Los Angeles, the racial makeup of its ensemble neither a thematic focus nor left uncommented on — it's just another part of the goodnatured banter thrown around between the guys. Hart is made to carry a large part of the comedic burden, and while his motormouthed shtick is initially tiresome, he gets funnier and funnier as the film goes along, shining especially when he insists his friends play what turns out to be a selection of professional basketball players (including Ron Artest and Lisa Leslie) for the right to their court. Chris Brown is among the other celebrity cameos, and actually manages to be amusing as a shifty lothario who creeps out of Mya's bed after a night together and keeps getting her name wrong when he runs into her on the street.
And of course, there's Harvey himself, appearing to deliver lectures on various TV screens. With characters this charming, his appearances feel more like intrusions, but it's entertaining to see the various women try out his recommended lines on their men — "What are your long-term goals?"
A woman's guide to winning dates
By Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post
But you don't have to buy into Harvey's portrayal of sexual gamesmanship and manipulation to take in the myriad pleasures of "Think Like a Man," in which director Tim Story makes the most of his attractive and accomplished cast and, with glancing references to books like "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" and rapper AMG, manages to sound a clear, distinctively hip pop-cultural dog whistle. (And an occasionally unwelcome one, especially when it traffics in tired, unfunny gay jokes.)
It's on this level - which co-star Ealy recently described as "that beautiful black aesthetic" - that "Think Like a Man" is best appreciated. Forget hackneyed cliches about Players and Dreamers and the scheming women who seek to domesticate them. Focus on the pleasures of watching a group of gifted actors spar and seduce each other with genuine war
Don't 'Think' about it
By Farran Smith Nehme, NEW YORK POST
There are too many couples. And there’s no suspense, since we’re hardly going to get a screenplay that suggests Harvey’s bromides don’t actually work.
The sole visual interest comes not from director Tim Story (“Barbershop”) but from the actors. Most are devastatingly attractive and talented, though the ersatz Jerry Lewis voice and tics of Kevin Hart (as the Happily Divorced Guy) are an acquired taste.
Advice books presume that human behavior can be broken into a small number of highly predictable patterns. Movies thrive on individuality and at least the illusion that we can surprise each other from time to time.
Think Like a Man
By Brian Lowry, variety.com
Best known for "Barbershop" before his sojourn into the spandex-clad world of "Fantastic Four," Story does deliver some funny moments, and incorporates enough cameos (including NBA players, Chris Brown and radio/TV host Wendy Williams) to leave few marketing stones unturned.
That said, some scenes drag on interminably, particularly when the women or guys are alone discussing dating strategies. One sequence in which the warring factions separately recount a date brings to mind the "Summer Lovin'?" number from "Grease," only with less music and more drawn out. There's also something rather quaint, frankly, about the premise of a dating-advice book being so influential, as if there were a dearth of them, or Oprah's Book Club were still in its heyday.
Pic does make good use of its Los Angeles environs and an expansive soundtrack, especially in the more romantic moments. Kudos, too, to the glamorous way the movie adorns its leading ladies. Ultimately, though, "Think Like a Man" dilutes its strengths -- perhaps because nobody bothered to think like an editor.
'Think Like a Man,' 2 stars
by Barbara VanDenburgh, azcentral
In fairness, "Think Like a Man" isn't trying to re-invent the wheel. It's an ensemble comedy with a low bar to clear, and the cast makes an honest go of it. Michael Ealy is a gentle, dreamy-eyed hunk as Dominic, a lowly prep cook looking to charm Taraji P. Henson's Lauren, a business woman who's way out of his league.
There's real chemistry in some of the pairings, especially between Meagan Good's confident Mya and Romany Malco's game-playing Zeke.Genuine tension crackles between them as Mya resolves not to "open the cookie jar" (so to speak) until after 90 days of dating.
But the laughs are too infrequent and lazy to do the cast justice. And there are enough mean-spirited gay jokes that you can keep a tally (eight by my count, after it occurred to me to start keeping track).
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