From the man who created Wimbledon, French Kiss, and Bridget Jones comes a new movie just as equally 'fluffy' in nature, Definitely Maybe.
Adam Brooks, we have seen better from you, but not by much.
Synopsis: 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 best friend and confidante, the apolitical April? 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...and maybe even possible to find a happy ending. (IMDb)
Overall I enjoyed the movie for what it was. Would I pay $9.75 to see it again or rent it on DVD for $4.50, No, but overall it fulfilled Valentine's Day (or Single Awareness Day) for me.
Warning Spoilers from here on in.
There were certain things that really irked me about the movie that made it hard to get into.
First it was released on Valentine's Day. The movie was good enough by itself that it didn't need to be paired up with a holiday invented by greeting card companies, there are plenty of adolescent teens willing to drag their boyfriends, guy friends, female friends, all kinds of friends, to see this romantic comedy. The first 10 minutes I was in stitches and the rest of the movie that followed, although typical, was not exactly original, but good.
The cast of characters were all really well picked my only complaint is with the character, Summer, the 'free spirited, ambitious journalist'. This was Will's (Ryan Reynolds) second love. After they break up he randomly bumps into her years later. She is pregnant and invites him to a party. All is good, but it's this encounter that made Summer unrealistic and very unbelievable, Summer went from a cut-throat, stab-you-in-the-back journalist to someone completely in owe of Will after minutes of friendly conversation. After Will agrees to go to her shin dig she starts walking away then turns around and shouts with enthusiastic surprise 'William Hayes!'. Alright Brooky baby, was that really necessary? What did that do for the character development? Nothing! She was a very unique individual in the beginning and by the end she's a blubbering gooey mess of pregnant female?
The movie opens with Will walking down a street to pick up his daughter at school. Apparently that day at school was the Sexual Education part of the curriculum, otherwise known as 'The Talk'. While all the other kids are demanding answers from their parents and expressing their disgust at sex, Maya (Abigail Breslin) wants to know the story of how her parents met? Seriously Brooks, come on! After that talk I couldn't look at my parents for a month, let alone want to know how they met and the sordid tales of my father's love life! Unbelievable at it's best. So after giving in to Maya's demands Will starts his story beginning with the Bill Clinton campaign for president.
Okay, this might be a little far fetched, but go with me here. Will works on the Clinton campaign and yada he wins YAY!, but Bill stays with us all the way until the end. The movie even shows clips of his impeachment because of the affairs with Monica Lewinsky. I think it's a little coincidental that this movie comes out during Hillary's campaign. Adam Brooks are you a supporter of Obama?
And my last complaint, the anti-smoking regime. I don't smoke and I don't support smoking, but since when did movies start smacking down on smoking? Didn't smoking get its start in the movies? Citizen Kane was a smoke fest, as was The Maltese Falcon, and Stagecoach. So where am I going with this. While Will is working on the Clinton campaign he goes into a shop to buy cigarettes where April is also there buying cigarettes, this is where Maya interupts the story and says; 'I can't believe you smoked!'. Then later in the movie Will bumps into April and the first thing out of his mouth is 'Did you quit smoking?' They both did. Since when did Truth have enough money to start blasting their commercials in A-List Hollywood movies?
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