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Definitely, Maybe
Universal Pictures


6.9

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 38 votes
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Rate this movie

FILM:

The Invisible Circus

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sexual content, including some frank dialogue, language and smoking

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Isla Fisher, Derek Luke, Abigail Breslin, Elizabeth Banks, and Rachel Weisz

Will is a 30-something Manhattan dad in the midst of a divorce whose 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 to work on the Clinton campaign. For Maya, Will relives his past as an idealistic young man learning the ins and outs of big-city politics. He also recounts the history of his romantic relationships with three very different women. Will hopelessly attempts a "PG" version of his story for his daughter and changes the names so Maya has to guess which woman her father finally married. Is her mother Will's college sweetheart, the dependable girl-next-door Emily (Elizabeth Banks)? Is she his longtime best friend and confidante, the apolitical April (Isla Fisher)? Or is she the free-spirited but ambitious journalist Summer? As Maya puts together the pieces of her dad's romantic puzzle, she begins to understand that love is not so simple or easy. And as Will tells her his tale, Maya helps him to understand that it's definitely never too late to go back...maybe even to find a happy ending. (Universal Studios)

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Romance
WRITTEN BY:	Adam Brooks
DIRECTED BY:	Adam Brooks
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 24, 2008 Theatrical: February 14, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	105 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	UK

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Empire Sam Toy

Sweet, funny, simple, entertaining -- everything a good rom-com should be. Definitely...

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Keeps you interested in its characters and isn’t afraid of complicating your sympathies a little. In these dog-day months for romantic comedy, that means a lot.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Absolutely, probably more comfortable with human romantic complication than the usual stuff released on Valentine's Day.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

A sophisticated story of disappointment and accommodation.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Brooks' take on the ups and downs of modern romance and the unexpected turns it takes is smart, funny, and (above all) uncommon. It's not hard to recommend this on Valentine's Day or at any other time.

TV Guide Ken Fox

A lot fresher and bit more sophisticated than the ordinary run of maudlin chick flicks and crude gross-out sex farces that now pass for romantic comedies.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

All three actresses are appealing, but Fisher, proving her scene-stealing turn in Wedding Crashers was no fluke, shines brightest.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Definitely, Maybe gets too coy in spots, and Brooks is a sharper writer at this point in his career than he is a director. But for a film with a half-dozen fully-formed characters that spans 15 years and works in a swell detail about a 1943 edition of "Jane Eyre" - well, it definitely works. No maybes about it.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Put simply, the film excels most at not being awful.

The New Yorker David Denby

In serious roles, Weisz can be stiff-backed and righteous, but here, doing comedy, she appears to be a major actress eager to reveal everything she’s been holding inside.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

A nimble and winning little romance

Village Voice Robert Wilonsky

A surprisingly rewarding romantic comedy.

Variety Dennis Harvey

A pleasingly non-formulaic romantic seriocomedy, Definitely, Maybe has charm and some depth.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

The flashback itself is a romantic dramedy that's far smarter than junk like "27 Dresses." Unfortunately, to enjoy that flashback, you have to ignore two gargantuan idiocies: No sane father would twist his daughter into knots by telling this story. It's full of booze, cigarettes, infidelity and sex with women who aren't Mom.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Maybe it's a measure of the numbing awfulness of romantic comedies in general lately, but Definitely, Maybe isn't nearly so bad as you might fear; it's actually fairly pleasant, a bit too off-color to be a family film but enjoyable just the same.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Maybe writer-director Adam Brooks has made a fluffy Woody Allen pastiche here, but it's arguably more pleasing than anything Allen himself has done lately.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

It's a decent Valentine's date-night flick, and should earn Reynolds the attention he'll need to snare stronger leading roles.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

On the plus side, Definitely, Maybe has an appealing cast, some amusing scenes and at least tries to do something different.

USA Today Claudia Puig

It's generally enjoyable, amusing and more sophisticated than most films in this genre.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

One thing the movie does well is skewer Bill Clinton. Though Hayes works for him and nominally defends him to detractors, we see old sins rehashed: Gennifer Flowers, Monica Lewinsky, his impeachment.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

This is a film bound and determined to do whatever it takes to be your Valentine. If it had trusted itself more, it might even have succeeded.

The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber

The film is far from a complete washout, and this is chiefly a tribute to its immensely attractive and appealing cast. Ryan Reynolds proves to have the stuff of a true leading. man.

Time Richard Schickel

Reynolds can't help looking rather shifty as he relates his story and Breslin, who was so wonderful in Little Miss Sunshine, is obliged to play a standard-issue wise child.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Abigail Breslin, the preteen Oscar nominee for "Little Miss Sunshine" and the most effortless actress of her generation, plays the precocious little girl part without overdoing the precociousness.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to guess which gal became the wife, which gal should have become the wife and which gal is there just to play with our heads. It's exactly like that old shell game – mildly diverting, pea-sized and otherwise hollow.

Salon.com Mary Elizabeth Williams

May be the first midlife crisis movie for Generation X.

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

There’s a surprising – and truthful – melancholic undercurrent to Definitely, Maybe – the one commonality between the three women is the heartbreak they induce – but Brooks undermines that truthfulness with a dogmatic insistence upon romantic mythologizing. No maybes about it: The reality is far darker, and more interesting.

Film Threat Michael Ferraro

As a romantic comedy, Definitely, Maybe is an explosion of sweetness and hugs that might cause your stomach to churn if you don't like your sentimentality too strong.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Isn't terrible exactly, but it's bland, and in some ways that's worse. It's a romance posing as a detective story in which the solution is obvious and not worth the fuss.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

This highly uneven comedy by writer-director Adam Brooks might be easier to take if it were less infatuated with its own cuteness.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

To sum up, Definitely, Maybe is crap with compensations.

Washington Post John Anderson

Definitely an overlong exercise in the concept of kismet, and maybe it's just what you want, in lieu of chocolates.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

There's no maybe about its standing as romantic comedy -- definitely bad.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.9 (out of 10) based on 38 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

TT BOY gave it a1:
Rachelle M., I could not agree more. HBO is included w/my apartment so I watched this stupid movie for free. It looked interesting at first, then I find out Hayes works for the Clinton campaign. I thought I could tolerate it, then they bash George W Bush when they see him on tv. One guy says, "If he's smart, he will stay out of politics and go back to baseball." I yelled at the TV, "Aside from supporting his dad, he was not in politics, DUMBASS!" I quickly changed the channel, which is something I also do if I come across MSNBC!!!!!!!

KaDi Bostick gave it an8:
Definitely better than most romantic comedies. Maybe it could've been a little bit more realistic. I mean unless his (Will) memory is photographic than I can't judge,but who can really remember everything everyone said 12 years ago. But it's still a pretty good movie.

Rod T. gave it a7:
It look some time for me to warm to this movie. I admit, watching it on my laptop, over two days, between weekend chores probably isn't the best way to watch a movie and rate it fairly, but lets give it a go. When all is said and done, I rate the movie a solid C+, but if you were to catch me midway through, I would be on the verge of turning it off. Basically it picks up after a bit and ends well. Maybe you should read a magazine for the first hour.

Lynn A. gave it a7:
The movie was great but the part about the mother just doesnt make snce.

Jester M. gave it a7:
The movie was very entertaining, and I would like to forward the motion that we don't allow right wing nutjobs to post reviews on Metacritic anymore. These conservative crazies shouldn't be afforded the same rights as us good freedom loving Americans. I doubt this will get posted as there is a double standard which allows the right wingers to get cart blanche when it comes to peddling crazy whereever they want, but when a good old fashioned liberal wants to enter the fray he gets shut down. Now, I know whoever the arbitrator of posting things on this site is, they are for sure a liberal.... so allow me to ask you friend... what are you prepared to do about it :)

Rachelle M. gave it a3:
Might be cute if you could get over a very young girl talking about sex pretty graphiclly, and the fact that the movie was obviously made by Democrats not afraid of blatantly putting their agenda into the movie.

Jay H. gave it a6:
Cute comedy romance, but it didn't "wow" me. Appealing performances, great cast with Isla Fisher standing out. Ryan Reynolds is quite good as well. It's a light and entertaining movie. It has some slow parts, but I never lost interest.

Definitely, Maybe Universal Pictures

Definitely, Maybe
Universal Pictures