Think like a Man
HUM/150
June 22, 2012
Linda Light

Think like a Man
I choose the movie Think like a Man to present and analyze because, I thought the movie was absolute hilarious. The plot of the movie is based off a novel written by Steve Harvey Act Like a Lady, Think Like a man. The film was released on April 20, 2012. The plot of the movie attracted me to the movie along with the star studded cast.

Culver City played host to the movie Think Like a Man. The head of production Glenn Gainor came up with the ideal to use Culver City so they could get the local politicians and shop owners involved. The producer Glenn Gainor thought it would be a great ideal to give the community of Culver City a chance to showcase what the city had to offer. When production of the film started Screen Gems considered filming in Georgia, because it offered a richer film tax credit than California. However the company decided to film locally in part, because it was able to save money filming so close to home. By filming close to home the company cut cost on parking and transportation. The producer got the chamber of commerce on board, the chamber of commerce help enlisted the local business willing to showcase their establishments in the film this resulted in a lower film permit fee for the company and the local business received some recognition as a result of their establishment appearing in the film. The producer’s motivation to shoot in Culver City was inspired by how movies use to be filmed. The producers wanted to capture a hometown modern day romance with this movie, and with the use of the local restaurants, houses and beautiful historical buildings in downtown Culver City gave the producer the feel he was looking for. In the movie several popular restaurants such as Rush Street on Washington Blvd as well as Cukasha restaurant and LEpicerie on Culver Blvd were showcased in several scenes in the movie. The producer also used a local upscale residential area for housing for the actors in the film; Culver High school was also used for scenes in the movie. Several hotels/establishments were featured in the film in Downtown Culver City some of them include JW Marriot, the Ritz Carlton at L. A. live and Wolfgang Pucks restaurant Wp24. After Think Like a man was shot in Culver City the city saw an increase in tourism. The use of the shops and restaurants along with historical buildings in downtown L.A .showcased parts of Los Angles usually not seen.
This viewer believes the theme of this movie is the movie has an all-black cast. The movie depiction of men and women could be somewhat true; the movie follows four young couples as they go through relationship problems along with everyday life problems. The couples are trying to figure out how to make it work for each couple there is a different challenge that they face from trying to get one’s spouse to pop the question to another one being a momma’s boy not wanting to leave his mom to dealing with divorce.
In Think like a Man the film follows four couples the women have each read the book Act like a Lady Think Like a Man. The women feel they have discovered a cheat sheet to control and to get their man to commit to whatever they want them to do, the women catch Steve Harvey on TV promoting his new book they believe this book explains why men behave the way they do the women believe they have the advantage over the men at this point. The women in the movie believe Mr. Harvey is the inside track to the way men think the women start to believe they can use this information to get men to treat them right. The women in this film or attractive, smart professional women, and have heard every story in the book from men. The women are fed up with men not wanting to commit or only wanting one thing or afraid to detach themselves from their mother (Boy do I hate those).One of the actress Mya (Megan Good) has decide she wants someone who wants her for her and not just her body or just trying to hook up for a one night stand. Kristen (Gabrielle Union) on the other hand is praying that her live in boyfriend Jeremy (Jerry Ferrara) will finally grow up and get rid of all the toys and video games and finally pop the question and maybe even land a better job. Candance (Regina Hall) just hopes to meet someone who will not run away when he finds out that she has a son. And then there is Lauren (Taraji P Henson) who is a COO of a fortune five hundred company she is seeking a man who can live up to her high standards, and who isn’t going to be intimated by her success and or finical success. The women feel they have found a gold mine in Mr. Harvey’s book ,they feel if they follow the advice given in the book they will find someone who will make them feel special and meet all the requirements they seek in a mate. Now the men in the movie feel the book is negative and maybe telling all their juice little secrets, they feel Mr. Harvey’s book and his advice along with Mr. Harvey were a traitor to all men. At first the men have no clue what the women or up to until one of the men stumble across the book his mother is actually reading it for her book club. The men in the film get together and figure out what’s going on and try and turn the tables on the women but they soon find out that they actually like what they have become.
This viewer’s logline would be Women and men were tearing down the doors trying to get this book, everywhere I went women and men where reading this book and it intrigued me, and I think it would make a great movie. If this viewer had wrote this screen play I don’t know if I would have went in the direction the producer did. However if you see one love story you have seen every variation on a love story out there. I am not much for love stories I personally wouldn’t change anything about the screenplay I believe the movie followed your typical romantic-comedy story.
In my opinion the movie had some punchy editing and very funny dialogue. The screenplay was based on a book the film descends into the usual elements of doubt and perfectly timed happy endings for all four couples. This viewer believes the sound in the film was very effective in some scenes you could hear all the hustle and bustle going on in the streets, from people chatting on cell phones, horns blowing, kids playing, when the film switched to the romantic scenes the tunes of John Legends song Tonight’s the night played in the back ground. I gave the film about 8.5 out of 10 because it was a typical boy meets girl fall in love type of film. Kevin Hart (Cedric) however made the movie very enjoyable for this viewer watching the different funny scenes and dialogue between the cast members made for a hilarious movie
The cinematography in Think Like a Man was done by Larry Blanford it was beautifully done the different angles used in certain scenes followed by close ups made you feel as though you were in the movie. The movie cut a lot of cost by using lightweight digital cameras and filmed the entire movie by using LED lighting this was the first movie ever film only by LED lights. The films context can simply be taken by this viewer as a women’s body is a temple and should be treated as such. A woman should command respect from the opposite sex, this viewer took from this movie that a women shouldn’t give her body away to just any man but the right man who earns and respects her. The movies context can be related to relationships all over the world, however lessons could be learned from different situations in the movie .For example in the movie Mya adopts the 90 day rule what this rule is she has made a commitment to herself that she would not have sex with the man or any man for that matter she would date for 90 days. She was tired of the meaningless relationships and waking up to find the guy had skipped out on her after your traditional one night stand.
There were 8 main actors/actresses in this movie and all of them gave a flawless performance, all the actors were very confident in their roles very strong commanded the screen if you will. What this viewer observed about each of the actors/actresses technique was that it seemed their roles were made for each of them none of them seemed to be overwhelmed by their role. This viewer could actually see this as their actual life the actors/actresses were so believable in their roles. As the viewer of this film I do not honestly think that this was an Academy Award winning film. This viewer doesn’t think the movie was strong enough it was a movie adapted from a self-help book. The movie did make you think, laugh and even cry at times but not an Academy Award winning movie.
The director’s approach to the movie was very effective considering the movie was adapted from a book, however the movies depiction of the four couples came across very effective to this viewer. It was effective to this viewer because one of the storylines hit very close to home for this viewer.
As the viewer of this film I have no personal influence or biases when it comes to this movie. This viewer however thinks that the movie dealt with everyday life situations couples face.
This film’s genre is Romantic-comedy in this viewer’s opinion this film was very enjoyable mainly because of Kevin Hart’s funny antic’s throughout the film. In this viewers opinion the movie would not have been enjoyable to this viewer if he wasn’t in the film.
This class has changed the way I view films I use to pick films based on how I felt, but I now pick apart everything I watch. I find myself listening to the background noises to critiquing the acting to surveying the lighting, editing and the construction of films and shows. I also take note of the different acting styles and angle the director use in different scenes. I gave this film an 8.5 solely based on the comedy portions of the film.
This viewer feels the actor/actress used in this film was an excellent choice and this viewer wouldn’t change a thing.

References http:// www.cnn.com//2012/04/27showbiz/movies
“Think Like a Man (2012)” Box Office Mojo, Amazon.com Http://boxofficemojo/movies