definitely, maybe

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Derek Luke, Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz and Abigail Breslin
Written and Directed by Adam Brooks
website: http://www.definitelymaybemovie.com/

IN SHORT: Good dateflick. [Rated PG-13 for sexual content, including some frank dialogue, language and smoking. 105 minutes]

     "Daddy, tell me about my mommy?"
      "Well, why I don't I do you one better and tell you about all the women who I knew who could have been your mommy, and I'll change all the names and see if you can figure it out!?"
      "It'll be like a romance mystery!!" . . . and so begins Definitely, Maybe, the story of about to be divorced Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) and his 10 years old daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin). The kid wants the story. The mom isn't (obvously) dead, and this clumsy set up could otherwise derail a pretty good dateflick in the usual "which girl is the one" manner.

As the story begins, Will heads to New York for two months early in the 1990s to work on Bill Clinton's presidential campaign. He leaves his college sweetheart "Emily"(Elizabeth Banks) behind -- remember, all the names are changed to confuse the innocent. "Emily" settles for an 'I'm only going to be gone for two months. What could happen?'

Well, other women could happen, and only you can decide if flirting is cheating or hang 'em high cheating. Lots of Bill Clinton era sex jokes could happen to give older viewwers a chuckle, by comparison. Will's adventures in Clinton's campaign, and then in a subsequent gubernatorial campaign, bring three "suspects": into view: the aforementioned "Emily," journalist Summer Hartley (Rachel Weisz), who has sexual commitments to a college professor named Hampton Roth (Kevin Kline) but eventually does a two thumbs up puff piece on the gubernatorial candidate Will and Russell are campaign managing. Finally, there is the free spirited "April" (Isla Fisher) who wants Will bad but, while he flip flops post Emily, hooks up with musician Kevin (Marc Bonan) [she, of course, is THE ONE, but Will is too dumb to recognize it -- there's a magnificently romantic subplot involving a signed copy of the novel Jane Eyre that sucked us into the story deep. It was the one point in t he story that makes this film "better" than the average waste of time Saturday night dateflicks.

We were, to tell the truth, confused and distracted as all get out by the messy set up, BUT were eventually won over once we shook all that nonsense loose. The characters are all fairly average but the writing, excepting our earlier complaint, is pretty good. It's interesting and captivating and good enough to kick the usual date night activities into gear. That, and one song featured prominently in the soundtrack of the film was written by a family member. We're always happy to hear it 'cuz said cousin makes money, especially if there's a soundtrack release. Which these films rarely do, but what the hey <g>

On average, a first run movie ticket will run you Ten Bucks. Were Cranky able to set his own price to definitely, maybe, he would have paid . . .

$6.00

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