Definitely, Maybe 2008

Sirpa reviewed Definitely, Maybe (2008)

Intriguing, but surreal

First of all, I never thought my self as "cold hearted troglodyte", ;-) but I did not cry in this one. I don't think this one was a sad movie at all! The idea of a guy reminiscing his love life is certainly intriguing but I could not help thinking: "Now come ON, what guy would actually remember such details so far back?": No-one. So in real life the story would not be interesting at all, cause the "real-life Will" wouldn't remember even 3/4 of that stuff. So, it's not very realistic, but then again few movies are. On the whole it wasn't bad at all, althogh at times I found it a bit boring.

A private user reviewed Definitely, Maybe (2008)

Definitely watch it, not maybe!

Overall this is a very good romantic comedy. The acting is good, the storyline is intriguing and in the end the movie takes you where you want to go, which I think is very important in movies.

It starts off with Ryan Reynolds character Will Hayes sitting at his office and getting a letter which says he is getting divorced. He then leaves the office and whilst he is walking through the streets of New York we hear a voice over; he says that picking up his daughter Maya (played by the adorable Abigail Breslin) from school is the highlight of his week. When he reaches the school he finds chaos, parents and children in the corridor going wild. It turns out the kids had been taught sex education (a little young for that?), and Will quicjkly gets his daughter out of there.

On the way home Abigail quizzes her father on sex and once up in his appartment wants to know the story of how he and her mother met. After much pleading by Abigail, Will reluctantly gives in and promises to tell Abigail the tale as part of her bedtime story. He tells Abigail the story of three women from his past, the ones who played a significant role in his romantic love life from when he was younger. He changes their names so Abigail has to try and work out which one is her mother.

We flash back to 1992 and we see that a younger Will is in a relationship with a college sweetheart called Emily. They run into trouble however when Will says to her that he has to go to New York to be a part of the Bill Clinton campaign to get him elected. Emily argues that their relationship will not survive the long distance but in the end Will goes and leaves Emily behind. She asks him to take a package to her dormotary roommate Summer (the gorgeous Rachel Weisz), but once in New York Will opens the package.

It turns out that it is Summer's diary from her time at college and through reading it Will discovers that his girlfriend Emily and Summer shared intimate moments at college. Will feels guilty about reading it and takes it to Summer at her aparmtent in New York. Their is obvious chemistry between them and Summer kisses him before he leaves.

When he starts working on the Bill Clinton campaign office in New York Will is assigned menial tasks such as making coffee and getting the toilet paper. Whilst there he meets the photocopier girl (played by the attractive Isla Fisher), and this is the third woman in the story. He flirts with her and they had a good chemistry between them.

So the three women in the story are Emily (college sweetheart), Summer (Emily's roommate from college), and April (hot photocopy girl from office). Which one is Abigail's mother? I am not going to say which one is or how the story ends up. All three characters pop in and out of the story and you are never really sure which one is the mother. For example you think it cannot be Emily after he heads to New York because when she does finally show up again later in the movie in New York she tells Will that she has slept with his roommate back at college. Will later goes on and has an affair with Summer, but they break up eventually and Emily comes back on the scene after Summer invites her and Will to a party she is hosting and it looks like sparks fly again between Emily and Will. So who is the mother? Watch the movie and find out.

What I particularly enjoyed about this movie is not only that it is beautifully acted and well shot, but the story keeps you guessing and it doesn't get overly complicated. The script is well written and the dialogue is snappy and witty. I like it when women in movies gets juicy lines to say which are both delightful and meaty and that they are not there merely as puppets to pander to the whims of the lead male actor.

Lastly, if you watch this move and do not cry at least once then not only are you a cold hearted troglodyte, but you will be destined to live forever as a lonely old sod who is bereft of passion and humour. Just my opinion lol No offence intended, just joking around :)

mouseman reviewed Definitely, Maybe (2008)

A surprisingly good romantic comedy

I ended up watching this movie with a bunch of friends. We decided to watch this movie, because it was an easy choice - romantic comedies rarely fail. At the same time I was thinking that romantic comedies rarely succeed.

But this one did succeed. It delivered a strangely complex, yet entertaining plot for a romantic comedy. The movie was about William Hayes, a wannabe politician trying to figure out his relationships with three different women. The movie storyline spanned from 1992 to present time and had some easter eggs because of the politics in the movie (live archive footage) and the current presidental election (like Bush jr. speaking as the President's son, Clinton election and so forth). In the movie, Will (Ryan Reynolds) told his lifestory to his daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) which made the story flow nicely from past to present.

The actors/actresses were great, especially the little Abigail (known from the little miss sunshine), the script was unpredictable, the dialogue was funny and the overall atmosphere was just fresh and enjoyable. Simply put, there's nothing not to like in this romantic comedy, which may be the best in it's genre since P.S. I Love You.