• Review by Leo Mayr - May 10, 2019

After several endeavors to score films other than action blockbusters, What Men Want sees Brian Tyler tackle a full-on comedy. Tyler’s recent attempts to diversify his career have so far yielded some of his most intimate scores, showing a different side to a composer known mostly for fast-paced action music.

While What Men Want won’t win any awards, it still manages to have some fun with its premise. Tyler delivers a wonderfully exciting score full of energy that does a lot of heavy lifting, infusing the film with a consistently entertaining sound.

Right from the fantastic main theme, the score is able to get you invested in the film’s story and really carries you through the experience. The score once again brings out Tyler’s jazz writing, falling somewhere in between his work for Now You See Me and Plan B. There is a lot of fun to be had in the music, but Tyler never neglects the movie’s more emotional side. There are more than a few genuinely heartfelt moments that really get you invested in the characters and their decisions. The score’s emotional side relies mostly on soft piano melodies and percussion, a lot of which Tyler performed himself.

Overall, the score contains no cues that could be labelled as “filler”. Tyler manages to have fun with each scene, always finding a way to create music that has a lot more going on than just being “background music”, though never detracting from the film in the process.

What Men Want is a fun and engaging score that is well worth experiencing. The music delivers just the right amount of exciting sequences and emotional moments to get you invested in the story. While the movie isn’t likely to be remembered for long, Brian Tyler’s score is a fantastic addition to his ever growing repertoire.

• 3/5