Definitely, Maybe (2008)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Adam Brooks

Writer (WGA):

Adam Brooks (written by)

Release Date:

14 February 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery | Romance

Tagline:

Three relationships. Three disasters. One last chance.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Love | Divorce | Sex | Politics | Romantic Comedy

Awards:

1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 19	5:00 PM	HBO
Fri. July 24	2:30 PM	HBO
Tue. July 28	10:30 AM	HBO

Cast

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 #1
Paulina Gerzon	...	School Kid #2
Victoria Goldsmith	...	School Kid #3
Ashtyn Greenstein	...	School Kid #4
Ashley Greiner	...	School Kid #5
Dylan Hartigan	...	School Kid #6

Also Known As:

Un jour, peut-être (France)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

UK:112 min

Country:

UK | USA | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

UK:12A | Ireland:15A | Netherlands:AL | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | USA:PG-13 (certificate #43597) | South Korea:15 | Germany:o.Al. | Malaysia:U | Sweden:Btl | Australia:M (DVD release) | Argentina:13 | New Zealand:M | Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:12 (DVD rating) | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Many of the bar scenes were filmed in the upper west-side bar Jake's Dilemma, 81st and Amsterdam.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Will goes to see April at her office with the copy of Jane Eyre, he confesses that he has had it a while. When she asked how long, he replies "Three years". This isn't possible. He finds the book in "1995" before he runs into Summer, before she re-introduces him to Emily, before they marry and have Maya. At the beginning you find out Maya is in elementary school, that makes her about 10 years old. It seems it would have been more appropriate for Will to say "13 years" to April (for he got the book in 1995 and the present year is 2008).

Quotes:

Will Hayes: This song is an excellent cure for the will to live.

Movie Connections:

References Some Like It Hot (1959)

A fairly good film that needed more than the cliché script it has.

Very good comedy that for the most part is sweet and intelligent but still comes across as lacking in the script department when some of the characters are concerned. The interaction between Ryan Reynolds and Abigail Breslin is sweet but the story about Reynolds quest for love is not very interesting to say the least and the women he has affairs with don't have much time apiece to have the audience really get to know them plus add to the fact that they are mostly cliché stereo types anyway and you are in a complete loss of originality. Of the three women, only Rachel Weisz manages to bring more to her character in terms of solid acting and complexity but that's really because Weisz is one of the best actresses of her generation and always brings her A game to what ever she does, so much so with this film that she does nearly steal it from the leads (Reynolds and Breslin) and almost lifts the film above its cliché script problems with her fun sense of charisma but she doesn't have that much screen time and she is stuck with the most stereo typical role of the film( that of career woman) and her subplot involving Kevin Klein as her mentor does not fit with what the film is about at all and does not add to it. Despite the short comings of her character and her story, Weisz's performance is the film's one true gem.

Isla Fisher is stuck with the most predictable character in the entire film (That of the free spirit who is a lot more in touch than she seems) and you can see a mile away on where her character is going to end up, which is a shame because Fisher is a fine comedic and dramatic actress that can do a lot more if giving the task but once again, the script is stuck in cliché mold and she's not giving enough to make her character any more interesting than she can. The worse served out of all of this is Elisabeth Banks who really does not have much of a character to work with at all (That of the sweet girl next door) and she comes across as more of an after thought than some one with substance. Which is a shame because Banks is a good actress who can do much more if given a much better character to work with and that's the real crime of this film.

It's a fairly good film but it needed to have more substance than it did. Like I said before, the interaction between Reynolds and Breslin are really good and their chemistry as father and daughter is genuine and sweet but outside of them and Weisz's scene stealing performance, the film is dragged down by its own inability to give the actors more outside of their cliché characters and surroundings and that where the film falters.