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| Movie Name: |
Definitely, Maybe |
| Grade: |
B |
| Date Posted: |
3/01/08 |
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“A Movie That Is Definitely Fun…Well Maybe”
Almost a filmed version of the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother,” the Oscar edition, “Definitely, Maybe” walks a line between charming and schmaltzy and due to the cast, manages to not slip into the negative. A dignified performance by Ryan Reynolds supported by daffy Isla Fisher, statuesque blonde Elizabeth Banks, moppet Abigail Breslin and the alluring Rachel Weisz, keep this film from being cloying.
Will Hayes, (Reynolds) picks up his daughter (Breslin) from school on the day his divorce papers have arrived. The child, already riled up from a sex education class, wants to know the specifics of her parents’ now faded romance, in hopes of reigniting it or at least recognizing how it derailed. Will tells her a story of the three loves of his young lives, but changes the names, allowing young Maya to ascertain which girl eventually became her mother.
First, he presents Emily, the college girlfriend who he leaves to start an adventure in the Clinton campaign (Bill Clinton, this was 1992). A package leads him to seductive journalist, Summer (Weisz), whose affair with a gonzo journalist past his prime (Kevin Kline) is already waning. Will falls in love with this determined writer, while on the campaign train, he also develops a bond with the flighty but wise April (Fisher). April and Will have palpable chemistry but timing seems to be their enemy. And they never find each other single at the same moment.
As Maya hears the story, she questions her dad’s choices with loving judgment, yet grows to appreciate the man-boy he once was and the three women who shaped him into the adult he’s become.
Reynolds is six years too young (betrayed by his boyish looks and charm) to believably be 37 in the present period, but he is such a charismatic actor that the casting choice is forgivable. You can't help rooting for him, but unlike someone like Brad Pitt or George Clooney, who exude confidence, his stumblings are believable.
Fischer steals this film, as she had “Wedding Crashers” from stars Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. A Flibbertigibbet, she's a vibrant but lost soul, a Holly Golightly whom men want to save but wind up being saved by.
Weicz and Banks have the less showy performances but make worthy additions to the map of this man's life. Kline is hilariously pompous and hypocritical as a man who lords over the world, indicting all as the cause of civilizations demise but then sleeps with his coeds.
Breslin has the most difficult role because in less able hands, you'd wish for inquiring daughter had been left on the cutting room floor. But she makes her pain of losing her family a minor tragedy.
Writer/Director Adam Brooks, who wrote the Kevin Kline/Meg Ryan comedy “French Kiss,” breaths some life into a premise that's a bit thin. There are several script issues, particularly “adult” moments in Will’s flashback which would be inconceivable for a father to reveal to a 10 year old. It’s as if the screenwriter hoped audiences would forget we’re eavesdropping on a tale being told to a child. The script also breaks no new ground nor leads the audience in any unexpected directions.
A film that succeeds in spite of itself, the weight of the drama in “Definitely, Maybe” comes more from the talented cast than from the sitcom-caliber script. Grade B.
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| Posted by: bouynxdor |
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