Show me just about any young kid, and I'll bet you bottom dollar that they don't just love bedtime stories, they demand them. It's interesting that the storytelling desire seems to cross all strata, although it's debatable whether that's nature (as in we all have some sort of built-in need to be entertained by stories of others) or nurture-based (where kids like such tales because of becoming addicted, if you will, to the familiarity of hearing them). In any event, and no matter the genre, the one common thread is that most of those young listeners want a happy end.
It's certainly true for little Maya Hayes (Abigail Breslin), although she's desirous of a decidedly different sort of tale that stems from a rather unusual catalyst. You see, her dad (Ryan Reynolds) has just picked her up from school where her rather young class has just gone through an unexpected sex-ed discussion. Like the others, she's full of questions about the biological part, but all of that also has her thinking about how her mom and dad met.
The only problem is that her parents are on the verge of finalizing their divorce, and he's not really in the mood to talk about that past and the various memories it dredges up. Nevertheless, she persists, he relents, and agrees to tell her the story, but only if he changes the names of those involved in his romantic past.
That's thankfully just one of a handful of contrivances (the other being coincidentally bumping into people from one's past) in the moderately entertaining "Definitely, Maybe." And speaking of thanks, we can all be grateful that this romantic comedy from writer/director Adam Brooks (previous director of "The Invisible Circus" and writer of "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" and "Wimbledon") doesn't trudge down the same predictable and formulaic path that most every other entry of the genre slavishly follows.
Instead, it somewhat travels along the sort of route paved by "The Princess Bride" in that an adult tells a kid a bedtime story that we then see in flashback, occasionally interrupted by present day questions and observations from the child. While clearly not as much fun as "TPB," the film does have its winning moments, some of which stem from the most unlikely source.
And that would be lead actor Ryan Reynolds. Having sat through some of his past, often excruciating films such as "Just Friends," "Waiting" and especially "Van Wilder," I had pretty much written off this guy as an affected performer with bad tastes in choosing film projects. Of course, we all have to start somewhere, and while his performance here isn't that of Hollywood legend, it's clearly a turn in the right direction. He delivers some nice moments and a developed sense of proper comedic timing, all of which means I'm now more than willing to give the performer more than a second chance at winning me over.
Someone who didn't need to do that is Isla Fisher, who made quite the impression as the playful nympho in "Wedding Crashers." That playfulness nicely segues over to this role, but the actress brings so much more to it as well, meaning she commands the screen whenever she's on it, and she and Reynolds create some decent chemistry together.
Of course, the big question is whether her flashback character turns out to be Maya's mom, both for the girl (who knows her mother, but not the secret identity her dad has created for her in the bedtime story) and the viewer. That storytelling tactic likely won't have anyone on the edge of their seats salivating over the answer, but it does serve as a means of keeping the plot moving forward.
Unfortunately, the constant alternating between Fisher's character and those played by Rachel Weisz (as a would-be journalist dating Kevin Kline seeming channeling Bill Murray doing the bearded and wise, but slightly off-kilter older man character) and Elizabeth Banks (playing the college sweetheart) goes from cute to a little tiresome, particularly once the film passes the 90-minute mark and starts losing some of its steam and dramedy momentum.
Some of that stems from Banks' script lacking the fun, sizzling banter that marks the best entries of this genre, although there are occasional moments that near brilliance while others do tug on the old heartstrings, even for a crusty, jaded critic such as yours truly.
Sporting several false endings, the pic does overstay its welcome by a bit, but thanks to good chemistry between Reynolds and Fisher as well as him and Breslin doing the father/daughter thing, the film ends up being good enough to earn a passing grade. With sharper dialogue and some judicious editing, "Definitely, Maybe" could have ranked up there with some of the genre's best, but it's still entertaining and enjoyable enough to rate as a 6 out of 10.
![[Logo]](/images/screenit_logo2.jpg){kind=logo}
