Definitely, Maybe (2008)

A political consultant tries to explain his impending divorce and past relationships to his 11-year-old daughter.

Director:

Adam Brooks

Writer:

Adam Brooks

Stars:

Ryan Reynolds, An Nguyen, Abigail Breslin

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryan Reynolds	...	Will Hayes
An Nguyen	...	Ad Exec
Matthew Mason	...	Headphone Guy
Rick Derby	...	Visitor from Planet Ordon (as Ricky Jay Derby)
Sakina Jaffrey	...	School Mom
Bob Wiltfong	...	School Dad
Ryder Chasin	...	Boy with Book
Fiona Lane	...	Angry Girl
Dana Eskelson	...	Angry Girl's Mom
Blake Benitez	...	School Kid
Paulina Gerzon	...	School Kid
Victoria Goldsmith	...	School Kid
Ashtyn Greenstein	...	School Kid
Ashley Grenier	...	School Kid
Dylan Hartigan	...	School Kid

Storyline

Romantic comedy: Will Hayes, a 30-something Manhattan dad is in the midst of a divorce when his 10 year old daughter, Maya, starts to question him about his life before marriage. Maya wants to know absolutely everything about how her parents met and fell in love. Will's story begins in 1992, as a young, starry-eyed aspiring politician who moves to New York from Wisconsin in order to work on the Clinton campaign. For Maya, Will relives his past as a idealistic young man learning the ins and outs of big city politics, and recounts the history of his romantic relationships with three very different women. On the campaign, Will's best buddy is Russell McCormack. They not only have similar political aspirations, they share the same type of girl problems, too. Will hopelessly attempts a "PG" version of his story for his daughter ad changes the names so Maya has to guess who he finally married. Is her mother Will's college sweetheart, the dependable girl next-door Emily? Is she his longtime ...

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Plot Keywords:

love | college | divorce | girl | wisconsin | 

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Taglines:

Three relationships. Three disasters. One last chance.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, including some frank dialogue, language and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Universal [us] Universal Pictures [jp]

Country:

UK USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 February 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Definitivamente, quizás

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$11,472,255 (USA) (15 February 2008)

Gross:

$31,973,840 (USA) (4 April 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rachel Weisz was originally set to play the part of Emily.

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Goofs

When Rachel Weisz tries to sober up Ryan Reynolds in 1991 (he's working on the first Bill Clinton campaign), she gives him a modern style bottled water - which was not available in 1991.

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Quotes

Will Hayes: I kept the book...
April: Yeah?
Will Hayes: Because it was the only thing that I had left of you.

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Connections

References Young Frankenstein (1974)

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Soundtracks

"Summer Wind"
(1965)
German Lyrics by Hans Bradtke
Music by Henry Mayer
English Lyrics by Johnny Mercer (as John Mercer)
Performed by Madeleine Peyroux
Courtesy of Universal Music Group International
Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd

User Reviews

Great storytelling makes otherwise ordinary rom-com something special.

When his ten-year-old daughter starts asking awkward questions about his impending divorce - and his life before she was born - a thirtysomething Manhattan dad sits her down and tells her the story of his three great loves. He changes the names to keep the surprise of who he eventually married, and he spins a charming story - spanning fifteen years - of loves lost and found and lost again.

And found again.

Ryan Reynolds (one of my all-time favourite performers) has seldom been better, Abigail Breslin (who appears frequently to comment on the story being told) is as genuinely charming as ever, and all three girlfriends are wonderfully cast. The story moves along at brisk pace and it's easy to see why the hero would fall in love with each in turn (at various stages in his life). What's not as easy to see is which one he will eventually marry. And, as well as successfully concealing the identity of the mother, the film makes you wonder many times how it will all end. Yes, it's a romantic comedy, so you're conditioned to expect a happy ending, but this isn't your typical romantic comedy so you're expecting a non-typical ending.

And you're right.

The ending is just as clever as the rest of the movie and it makes for a great story overall. It's a very modern story. I think it would have been called "a sophisticated sex comedy" in bygone days. Which just means the characters are a bit more mature and closer to real life than you normally find in this genre.

What could have been an enjoyable B-grade rom-com is lifted up by unconventional storytelling and a little extra effort spent to get the ending just right. Grade "A" from me.

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