Title: Think Like a Man
Director: Tim Story
Based off the comedic relationship guide book, for the ladies, written by funny man Steve Harvey, Think Like a Man will easily please both sexes.
The cast is dynamite. The fundamental telling of the story is entertaining and surprisingly interesting. And believe it or not, one may learn a thing or two.
Having an ensemble cast, and then pairing them off, can be a tricky business. In this script, the five or so very different relationships that get put under the microscope are all engaging and given ample time to breathe. The one element that ties them all together is the performance, and narration, by Kevin Hart. The energetic stand-up comic is on fire here. And his output is contagious to the rest of the cast.
When Steve Harvey – playing himself – writes a book for women, he pulls back the curtain on the numerous ways guys handle a variety of relationship situations. He basically allows women to study the male species’ behavior regarding relationships. Four women (Gabrielle Union, Meagan Good, Taraji P. Henson, and Regina Hall) take his written words to heart, and they apply all of Harvey’s teachings to their four potential suitors: Michael Ealy plays the dreamer, who struggles to get by; Jerry Ferrara is scared to commit and doesn’t want to embrace adulthood; Terrence Jenkins is a straight-up “momma’s boy;” and Romany Malco is a player just looking to dip-n-run on another piece of female flesh.
All the guys are good buddies and constantly meet up at a bar to discuss where they are currently at with their ladies. Kevin Hart, who is going through a divorce and is seemingly embracing being single again, offers his perspective on each of his pals’ unique predicament. He takes up the mantle as general for the boys, while Harvey’s written pages are the girls’ ammunition. Let the sexual chess match begin!
This is consistently hilarious the entire 123 minutes. And that can be a bad thing believe it or not, for you may miss some lines of dialogue because the theater laughter is carried over from the previous punch-line; mainly coming from Hart’s spitfire mouth. Other than that, a few conversations can come across mumbled – either the sound editing faltered, or there were just too many characters yapping at once. Even with those minor hiccups, everything moves in a smooth manner and that includes the vastly different character personas featured on both teams (guys & girls).
While it does have some pacing issues at the end in trying to close the deal so to speak, and despite being predictable, you actually find yourself caring about the outcome in each respective story. This script is sharply written and is right up there with any ensemble comedy in the last few years where it’s the girls versus the fellas.
Overall, Think Like a Man has many engaging thoughts that will lead to laughing-with-noise moments (refuse to type “LOL”). Anytime you have a story encompassing material in which the majority of people can relate to, and it’s delivered in a comical manner, is a rare treat these days my friends.
Technical: B
Story: B
Acting: B+
Overall: B
