Definitely, Maybe

Written and Directed by Adam Brooks

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Abigail Breslin, Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz, Kevin Kline.

Synopsis: A separated father recounts for his daughter his romantic history, including how he met her mother, but with the names changed so that she has to guess which love interest is her mother.

Review by Junior.

Definitely, Maybe was a movie I started watching accidentally, with absolutely no expectations, which as you may know is a great way to watch a movie. I've had many a film spoiled by my own too-high expectations (see my Quantum of Solace review) and been pleasantly surprised by movies of which I had no or even low expectations. This was the latter situation and I found it entertaining, funny, sweet, and a moderately good sketch of how relationships start and end, what goes on in between, and how we look back and regret missed opportunities or bad decisions.

Ryan Reynolds plays the father, clean shaven here but with the same sarcastic charm that made him appealing as a smart-ass action guy in Smoking Aces and, particularly, Blade: Trinity. Abigail Breslin plays his daughter, the eager audience for her dad's love story, trying to pick up clues and predict which love interest will turn out to be her mom in the end. Breslin continues to be very sweet and engaging, as she was in Little Miss Sunshine and No Reservations.

Reynolds' love interests are an appealing mix of different types of women, played by no-names (to me), except for his first girlfriend, played by Elizabeth Banks, who seems to show up everywhere. I also found it interesting that Reynolds' character is involved behind the scenes in politics as a career, at least for the first half of the film, but it is mostly incidental to the plot. One rarely sees politically active policy wonks as characters in a film that isn't about politics.

Of course, there's a happy, or at least hopeful ending, as you might expect. If you have a little time to kill I think you'll find it a pleasant, romantic, funny movie. I just hope this review doesn't have your hopes too high.

Story---6
Acting---6
Look---5
Overall---6