Susan Granger’s review of “Women vs. Men” (SHOWTIME TV)
This pointless battle-of-the-sexes comedy explores the unlikely withering and rebirth of romance that takes place over a 24-hour period. The emotional roller-coaster begins as Bruce (Paul Reiser) attempts to console his bewildered buddy Michael (Joe Mantegna), whose wife of 20 years, Dana (Christine Lahti), has not only spurned the new white Cadillac he bought her but stormed out of the house in fury, saying he reminds her too much of her father. To cheer him up, Bruce suggests they take a quick trip to their favorite strip join. Michael agrees, thinking it might relax him. However, unbeknownst to them, Dana, who was on her way home, follows them and watches as they buy intimate lap dances from topless women. She quickly reports this boys-night-out diversion to Bruce’s wife Brita (Glenne Headley), who shares her fury. Then a lonely, tipsy divorcee neighbor (Jennifer Coolidge) arrives on the scene. Outnumbered and booted out of the house, the guys flee to visit Nick (Robert Pastorelli), who is separated from his wife and pursuing a new mission in life: seducing every woman in sight. Over the past 10 months, he boasts, he’s been to bed with 128 women. What he doesn’t reveal about his sexual escapades is that he’s also tried to seduce their wives. After more than an hour of verbal jousting, the couples finally begin to talk to each other. No more accusations. No more anger. Just an honest expression of their feelings about how the passing of time has affected their marriages. Not surprisingly, the men and women have different emotional needs when it comes to revving up their sex lives. On the Granger Made-for-TV Movie Gauge, “Women vs. Men” is a tiresome 3. It airs Sunday night (Aug. 4) at 8 PM on SHOWTIME TV, plus Aug. 21 at 8 PM and Aug. 27 at 11 PM.
