‘How To Please A Woman’ – Review
Australian comedic cinema is always a delight to watch on the big screen, and writer and director Renée Webster know’s exactly which buttons to push to get audiences going in this hilarious and heart-warming tale in How To Please A Woman, as one woman decides to make a second-go with her desires and the unexpected consequences that follow from it.
When her all-male house-cleaning business gets out of control, Gina (Sally Phillips), a 50-something mature woman must embrace her own sexuality, if she is to make a new life for herself.
Not walking around its subject matter in any way possible, How To Please A Woman is a fun, flirty and funny tale that involves the business of please and all the fun it can bring, and audiences seeking a delightful laugh, with that quintessential Aussie spirit, will be very pleased by this one. As Gina, Sally Phillips gives a genuine performance of a woman who finds a second chance in life after taking over a failing moving company, and after a bit of whimsy turns it into an all-male cleaning company. But when it turns out that her female clients are more interested in the bedroom skills of her employees, who soon finds herself in an unexpected situation, and on a whim begins to roll with the flow and hilarity ensues.
Phillips brings a realness to the role of Gina, a bored housewife who in a loveless relationship with a workaholic narcissist husband, soon finds out just how in-demand her all-male crew are and the hi-jinks move quickly. Director Renée Webster gets into the inner head-space of Gina and her desire for company, a desire that she’s not alone in wanting, and what we have here with How To Please A Woman is a very interesting and funny examination of love, relationships and sexual exploration and just how much fun it can be.
While How To Please A Woman is first and foremost a quintessential Aussie comedy, it also is a deep exploration of human connection and sexuality. Taboos go out the window here, and Webster explores the intricacies and desires of a group of women, who having reached middle age and above, are looking for something new and exciting in their lives. The focus on the ‘joys of sex’ is handled with reverence and care, and there’s plenty to enjoy as the pleasures of intimacy are examined through Webster’s lens. Her focus on how sex can be fun, invigorating and life-affirming marks How To Please A Woman out as an altogether different film experience as this isn’t just sex for sex’s sake, and the role of pleasure has a very key relevance to the narrative in which she is presenting.
How To Please A Woman is a hilarious and warm tale that is sure to move audiences and its message about ‘literally’ finding the joy in life is sure to resonate.
Image: MadMan Films
