Written and Directed by Renée Webster
Starring Sally Phillips, Alexander England, Erik Thomson
Unrated
Runtime 1 hour 47 minutes 
Opens in theaters July 22 and on demand July 29

by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

The genial Aussie comedy, How to Please a Woman, proves that women know best when it comes to women achieving sexual satisfaction.

Fiftysomething Gina (Sally Phillips) is described by her friends Sandra (Caroline Brazier), Monique (Tasma Walton), and Hayley (Hayley McElhinney) as “uptight.” And with good reason; Gina “loves a good spreadsheet,” and eats apportioned food for her diet. Her life is so routine and predictable that her husband Adrian (Cameron Daddo) gives her cash for her birthday. And while she claims to be happy, she also admits the last time she had sex was two years ago in Bali. 

To remedy Gina’s lack of excitement in her life, her female friends gift her Tom (Alexander England), a stripper, who upon arrival, rips his shirt off and says he will “do anything” for her. As if taking a cue from Rosie O’Donnell in Exit to Eden, Gina instructs him to clean her house.

And so, when Gina is laid off from her job at a liquidator, and the moving company that employs Tom is being dissolved (hence his stripping gig) Gina takes over the business to improve everyone’s life — and everyone’s sex life. She seizes the moving company and asks Tom and his colleagues, Steve (Erik Thomson), Anthony (Ryan Johnson), Benjamin (Josh Thomson) to work for her as cleaners. And if women (want to) have an orgasm during the booking, that’s icing on the cake. Of course, the clientele are often more interested in the sex than the housework.

How to Please a Woman takes what may be a lurid premise, but it makes it a sex-positive story of female empowerment as women of a certain age bond together to avoid being “sexually invisible.” Gina encourages women to ask for what they want. Moreover, her friends help the men become better lovers and cleaners. Hayley teaches Anthony on how to listen to a woman’s body to be a better lover. She gleaned he learned his “jackhammer” approach to sex from watching porn. Meanwhile, Tom must improve his housework skills. Though he does give back, encouraging his instructor to ask her husband for sex, expressing that he (and by extension, other men) appreciate it when a woman takes the lead.  

Written and directed by Renée Webster, How to Please a Woman is more naughty than explicitly sexy. There are some too-clever puns about the bespoke service “leaving no surface untouched,” and “getting into every crevice.” There is also a goofy and obvious bit of physical comedy when Steve brings Gina to orgasm using a remote vibrator. But this scene’s main purpose is to hint at the unspoken attraction Gina and Steve have for each other. 

In one of the more poignant episodes, Gina’s former colleague, Alice (Emily Rose Brennan) is often seen for her shapely figure, not her brains. Alice awkwardly meets with Gina about her service explaining she wants to be seen for who she is and to have someone treat her the way she wants rather than being judged for her looks and groped by a man who does not understand her needs. Later, when Gina later asks Alice to fix her company’s website, she gains respect from the guys who initially admire Alice for her physique but quickly appreciate her organizational skills. 

As for the double-standard of women ogling handsome men like Tom, the film skirts this issue during a scene featuring a police officer investigating the business asking the guys if they ever felt exploited working for Gina. (The answer is a resounding no.) 

How to Please a Woman does not exploit its characters, who are endearing. There is more nudity in the women’s locker room — Gina’s friends and clients are part of a daily swimming group —than in any of “house cleanings” save an early moment when Gina catches Tom in the buff when he should be buffing and dusting. The candor the women have in their discussions, or Gina’s intake sessions with clients are bawdy but insightful. One woman requests edging in an over-the-top comic moment, but another woman wants a no-strings-attached situation, and her self-awareness is touching to Gina, who suggests her client needs to find herself first. 

Gina, too, finds herself through her work, as is typical of films in this genre. Sally Phillips makes Gina’s transformation from wallflower to liberated woman compelling. She is ably supported by Erik Thomson and Alexander England in the supporting cast. 

How to Please a Woman is a pleasant film for viewers looking for a cheeky diversion.