X
- 2008
- PG-13
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 52 m
- 2008
- PG-13
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 52 m
Summary 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 Wis...
Directed By: Adam Brooks
Written By: Adam Brooks
- 2008
- PG-13
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 52 m
- 2008
- PG-13
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 52 m
Definitely, Maybe
59
7.3
Where to Watch
Summary 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 Wis...
Directed By: Adam Brooks
Written By: Adam Brooks
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 33 Critic Reviews
59
61% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
36% Mixed
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 33 Critic Reviews
59
61% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
36% Mixed
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
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.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 70 User Ratings
7.3
73% Positive
51 Ratings
51 Ratings
24% Mixed
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
3% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 70 User Ratings
7.3
73% Positive
51 Ratings
51 Ratings
24% Mixed
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
3% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Joe Morgenstern what a joke. This film is cleverly put together and worth many viewings. It does something original for a romantic story, it shows a man telling his daughter about his dating history and gets his daughter to guess who is her mother. This all happens during the daughters visits to her father as like many real life families, the daughters parents are divorcing. Abigail Breslin as the daughter is excellent and so is the cast. The way the passage of years is depicted is well done. Some of it is very funny but it is not the run of the mill romantic comedy, it is romantic, it has comedy but most of all it is a well told story with a beginning, middle and, well that is for you to find out.
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I am a **** for the romantic comedy, but there is nothing I hate worse than a cheesy one. Ok, so maybe they are all a bit cheesy, but I have fallen victim to the formula of watching two souls destined to be together and the story it takes to get them there. Wow...I just realized. I AM cheesy!
And, thus, I have fallen hard for Definitely, Maybe. Unlike most romantic comedies, this one is centered primarily around the adorable young actress Abigail Breslin from Little Miss Sunshine, another one of my favorites. Abigail plays the precious young Maya, daughter of underrated hunky actor Ryan Reynolds (yes, I said it), who plays former Clinton-campaign worker-turned-ad-man Will Hayes, who wants desperately to make sense of her parents' divorce and to see her father happy. As with any little girl, the fantasy romance plays heavily in her belief-system about love, thus she begs her father to explain how she came to be, and how he came to marry the woman from whom he is obtaining a divorce. The movie weaves an intricate and pretty realistic set of scenarios (although all of them together seems a bit far-fetched) on how men and women decide to enter and eventually exit relationships.
As the story moves its way through the film, the viewer is introduced to a myriad of attractive and unique female supporting cast members, played by Elizabeth Banks (Emily/Sarah), Rachel Weisz (Summer/Natasha) and the eventual owner of Will's heart, the immensely sexy Isla Fisher (April).
The writing and directing of Adam Brooks **** the viewer into the narration just as much as young Maya. I found myself trying to figure out where the story was going and making openly verbal guesses as to what would happen next. At no point did the story get old or boring. And, by the end, I found myself tearing up.
Having come from a divorced family myself, and at times, nearing divorce in my own marriage, it's movies like this that do a very REAL job of expressing what questions and emotions children go through as their life changes through no fault of their own. It's heartbreaking. And Maya's quest to make sense of it all through this story is as much part of her own healing as it is Will's. And, in the end, they both do everything they can to find the happy ending. Like any good romantic comedy, the predictable happy ending does indeed come.
Supporting cast members Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz and her lover, the perfectly-cast Kevin Kline, do a tremendous job giving depth to the story and providing a realistic view of how all of us migrate through our 20s and early-to-mid 30s beginning as enthusiastic, yet naive, adults to realistic and somewhat cynical thirtysomethings. Being one myself, I was taken aback by the transformation of each character as they become more mature, having gone down their own individual paths, eventually leading Will and April back together.
I have been waiting for the rest of the world to realize just how great Ryan is since the first episode I saw of Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place. I was convinced he was Jim Carrey's younger brother. Now, I realize he is not only good looking on screen, but also deadpan funny (see Waiting, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and Just Friends)and superbly believable in dramatic (or non-funny) roles, as evidenced in Definitely, Amityville Horror and Blade:Trinity. When I saw the trailers for Definitely, Maybe, I thought (pardon the pun), maybe Ryan had finally found the vehicle, the writer/director and the supporting cast to show the rest of the world just what a phenomenal talent he is. Alas, the movie did ok, but this wonderful movie didn't receive the accolades it so richly deserves.
While there is no need for a sequel, I encourage you to rent or buy this film on DVD to not only see a great film, but financially support future films like this.
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A surprisingly rewarding romantic comedy.
It's a decent Valentine's date-night flick, and should earn Reynolds the attention he'll need to snare stronger leading roles.
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.
Definitely an overlong exercise in the concept of kismet, and maybe it's just what you want, in lieu of chocolates.
There's no maybe about its standing as romantic comedy -- definitely bad.
I must say I really liked this movie. I have a little girl too so it kind of hits home for me. This movie makes you think a lot about your own life choices and past relationships that you know you will never get back. It's weird.
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A great movie, Had a great father and daughter relationship. Superb acting by both father and daughter.
Watch it online for free: ****/watch-224-Definitely-Maybe-online-free
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It's a cozy movie, one to watch on a rainy sunday morning. it's pretty nice, but it makes too many loops and holes to the story. But it's a very satisfying ending that the whole movie was going towards.
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This romantic comedy actually kept me guessing at what the outcome would be. It was pretty funny, and Ryan Reynolds was surprisingly good, which is a shocker. If you are looking for a romantic comedy this is a pretty decent one.
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I was bored. Really bored, but 30 minutes into it, it did get better. Filled with the adorable Ryan Reynolds and Abby Breslin, this movie wouldn't have been have bad if it was better paced. I enjoyed it to some extent, but in the end, I **** cheated, and not annoyed, but confused. Was this movie really necessary?
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Production Company
Universal Pictures,
StudioCanal,
Working Title Films,
Ringerike Erste Filmproduktion
Release Date Feb 14, 2008
Duration 1 h 52 m
Rating PG-13
Tagline Three relationships. Three disasters. One last chance.
Awards
Women Film Critics Circle Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Teen Choice Awards
• 1 Nomination
