So I FINALLY got around to seeing this. I went from guaranteeing I would see it opening weekend to waiting til it got to our dollar show. The good thing about that is I thought that meant it would lessen the possibility of having loud folks in the theater being distracting. Especially since it was the early matinee on a Sunday. Boy was I wrong. Still managed to enjoy it anyway.
Based on Steve Harvey's best-selling book, "Think Like a Man" follows the lives of six friends who happen to be the type of men named in Harvey's book. The ladies they interact with learn of the value of the book and start taking his advice to heart when dealing with these guys. However, once the guys learn the same thing they hatch plans of their own to get the advice to work to their advantage.
I never did get a chance to read the actual book. It had nothing to do with the fact that I thought Steve was selling guys out buy giving away trade secrets. It also had nothing to do with the fact that some women were offended by the fact that a guy with several failed marriages was trying to give relationship advice. It was just that if I found the time to read there are several other pieces of actual non-fiction that I would much rather indulge. However, a movie with so many of my favorite stars was one I couldn't miss. Especially Kevin Hart.
Let me go out on a limb now and say that this man deserves his own starring role. "Soul Plane" definitely was not the right joint. It may have been a bit premature for him because he was just at the start of his comedic rise so he probably wasn't as picky as he should have been. But whenever he's in any type of supporting role he always manages to steal the show. This was easily his best effort yet. Hart overwhelmingly had the majority of the funniest lines in the flick. Some so good that I was laughing clear into the next scene. Sometimes it was just his expressions and actions that did it.
Harvey could not have picked a better way to translate that book to the big screen. From what I understand, the book itself was clearly not meant to be comical even though several folks took it that way. Harvey genuinely considers himself somewhat a relationship expert. So for him to understand that the movie version should have a tone that is not taken seriously was perfect. It was almost enough for me to want to read the book now. Almost.
I sat there the entire movie trying to find something to find fault with it. I could have chosen the fact that the repeated cameo of Chris Brown getting his one night stand's name wrong was unnecessary. Or the fact that we could have done without Harvey's gratuitous self-fulfilling cameos (but you knew those were going to happen since it was his movie). However, truth is, this one was very well done as a whole. They didn't go for cheap laughs and they kept the drama to a minimum. They can credit great casting for that as everyone seemed to mesh together just right.
Most of all, I can't stress how good it was to watch a Black movie that didn't have Tyler Perry's influence for a chance. Hollywood realized at leat for this one film that there really are other folks out there who can make movies for us. Yes, I know it won't last long though. I'm sure they are already planning the next Madea film before this latest one hits screens soon.
"Think Like a Man" really surprised me in the aspect that I was not expecting it to be so captivating. I was hooked from beginning to end. But again, much of that was because of Hart's presence. Without him it's just an average film with some of my other favorites like Michael Ealy, Taraji P. Henson and Romany Malco (you better ask somebody if you aren't up on him). If this one doesn't help Hart get the leading role that he deserves then it's just further proof the bigwigs in Hollywood don't know what they're doing.
My rating: A -
