Think Like a Man is a 2012 Romantic Comedy based on Steve Harvey's dating advice book, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man.
The plot follows the relationships of a group of friends, each one representing a different dating archetype matched with a female contender. After the release of the aforementioned book in which Mr. Harvey gives away men's secret relationship tricks, the men struggle to keep up as the women start changing the game.
In 2014, a sequel was released: Think Like a Man Too. Set in Las Vegas, the cast is preparing for Michael and Candace's wedding. However, each couple is plagued with further relationship drama, such as dealing with in-laws, or having to choose between work and romance.
This film contains examples of:
- Actor Allusion: When discussing the film "For Colored Girls", Michael Ealy's character declares, "I HATE that movie! That's the one where Janet Jackson's husband gave her AIDS and some crazy guy threw his kids out the window!" Sure enough, Ealy played said "crazy guy".
- The Cameo: The group the guys challenge to a basketball game are all professional basketball players.
- Wendy Williams as Gale, Cedric's wife.
- Divorce Is Temporary: Cedric spends the entire movie bitching about his wife and preparing to divorce her. Just as it's about to be finalized, he calls her and tells her he's coming home.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male:
- Candace is constantly irritated and disappointed when Michael wants to spend ANY meaningful time with her mother. She seems to think that just her and her son should be Michael's only priority, despite their just beginning their relationship. She is even furious when she finds out that Michael has been in PHONE CONTACT with his mother and kicks him out of her life. The "logical" result of the film: Michael tries to distance himself from his mother and spends more time focusing exclusively on his relationship with Candace. And if the situations were reversed: Alex got furious every time Candace made her son a priority and demanded that she stop doing it, would the movie manage to pass this off as Michael being remotely right?
- It's repeatedly implied that Cedric's estranged wife Gail is physically, emotionally, and verbally abusive to him and that this is the very reason he's leaving her. But the entire scenario is played for laughs with his friends constantly ridiculing him about it, and at the end of the movie, he goes back to her.
- Gave Up Too Soon: In the sequel, Cedric ends up amassing a huge debt on Gail's credit card. He tries to play roulette in order to pay it off, but while his back's turned, Zeke decides to lessen the bet to spare him from a devastating loss...except that Cedric's lucky number comes up immediately, leading to the two to fight over the missed payout.
- The Ghost: The wife of the Token White character.
- Gail, until the final scene.
- Happily Married: The Token White character and his wife.
- My Beloved Smother: Mike's mom. To her credit, she backs off once she see her son is genuinely happy, and once she finds a little happiness herself.
- Product Placement: The book the movie's based on. Also Nike.
- Through His Stomach: Dominic cooks scrumptious meals for Lauren.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Gail towers over Cedric.
- Token White: The guys have one white friend and one "clear" friend.
- Uptown Girl: Lauren, a successful business woman, needs to get over her hang-ups about dating Dominic, someone who's just starting out, especially since he lied about his financial status.
