Definitely, Maybe

”Definitely, Maybe” purports to be a romantic comedy, but with a bland Ryan Reynolds as its star, it’s hard to really care what happens to him. Add to that a plot point that requires a huge suspension of disbelief and you have a so-so movie. The movie opens with Will Hayes (Reynolds) receiving divorce papers. His daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin), hoping that memories will resurrect her father’s love for her mother, asks for the story of how her parents met. He agrees, but says he’s going to change names. He then tells Maya about the three women in his life – his college sweetheart Emily (Elizabeth Banks), whom he leaves behind in Wisconsin to join Clinton’s campaign committee in New York; Summer (Rachel Weisz), Emily’s friend who is having an affair with her thesis professor (Kevin Kline) and April (Isla Fisher), a fellow campaign worker. The acting of the three woman and young Abigail Breslin is much better than Reynolds who seems to be cast more for his looks than his ability to act. But the biggest hole in the plot is a young girl not knowing anything about how her parents met. Do parents keep any of this information a secret? The script does take a few unexpected turns, but, really, who cares? (2/18/08)