This is a great romantic comedy. I’m going to say this without sounding like I’ve lost my manhood, “I Love This Movie!” DEFINITELY MAYBE is possibly the best Valentine movie in recent years. This movie tackles the fear of being tied to any kind of commitment unlike any other movie has ever shown. I really enjoy the so-called love mystery aspect of the story where we don’t get to find out who’s who until… nearing the end. Finally a movie worth seeing again and again. It’s a feel good movie in the same level as Serendipity and The Notebook, this one also has a happy ending, one which the characters we’d like to see being together do end up together.
William Hayes (Reynolds) in the midst of a divorce is asked by his 10 year old daughter to tell her a story of his life before marriage, of how he met her mother. So William decides to tell her the story with a condition that the names are changed and his daughter, Maya (Breslin) would have to guess which one of the three women he dated in the past he finally married.
What holds this movie together is the puzzle that the story creates, it engages us in this intriguing game. We are hooked because we want to know what clue that solves it all. You have these three gorgeous woman and you don’t know who William Hayes (Reynolds) ends up being happy with. The answer at the end may not be as shocking as M. Night Shyamalan’s twist endings but it sure gives satisfaction but it doesn’t comes easy… that’s another thing I like about this movie is that it doesn’t just give in to the demand of happily ever after just like that without giving us first some glimpses of complication along the way.
The characters are rich, this is by far Ryan Reynold’s most daring performance. He still has that Van Wilder’s persona but it’s toned down a bit here. I cannot take my eyes off of Elizabeth Banks, she’s a blond beauty who can take your breath away. Isla Fisher, the British redhead, plays April the girl with a free spirit but is longing for that lasting relationship.
She is one cute actress, even when she played that immature brat in Wedding Crashers, she looked irresistible even then.
Rachel Weisz is the most experienced one in the cast, having own an Oscar and all but she blends in well with the rest of the team.
And of course, who can forget Abigail Breslin. That talented little girl captures our hearts every time she cries in most of her movies (Signs, Little Miss Sunshine, No Reservation, The Ultimate Gift).
I find it funny and interesting the fact that writer/director Adam Brooks chose to use 1992 Bill Clinton Campaign as the background setting on how all these characters are connected. Maybe in a way, it tries to sorta give the character April (Fisher) all the more reason to think that marriage is useless cause in it won’t last and even the most powerful man in the world failed to know how to stay in a relationship.
Maya (Breslin), in one scene, asks his dad (Reynolds) what’s the boy word for “slut”, she’s referring to her dad’s habit of having many girlfriends in one lifetime, maybe she should’ve asked that to Bill Clinton, the ultimate embodiment of the boy word for “slut”
DEFINITELY, MAYBE is a definite must-see. The most perfect date movie this season. Take your loved one with you to check this out. Both of you will enjoy it, I guarantee it!
* Place the cursor on the picture below to check my grade for this film
