“The human heart has hidden treasures in secret kept, in silence sealed; the thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures whose charms were broken if revealed.”
Definitely Maybe is a bittersweet romantic story which tells the tale of Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) and his romantic history with three entirely different women. Romantic comedies are generally clichéd involving a rather stereotyped tale of how the boy gets the girl with a storyline that is more like a mathematical theorem or a proven formula, and that is where this movie differs, it doesn’t have a predictable storyline for starts or a fairytale romantic scenario for that matter.
The movie begins with Will opening papers for an impending divorce. He meets his daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin; ‘Little Miss Sunshine’) and takes her home to spend time in the evening. Maya pressurizes her dad to tell the story of how he met her mother, after some persuasion Will reluctantly agrees and there begins a PG-13 story of explaining the complex adult relationships to a 10 year old. Will changes the names of all the women in the story, as there are other women in the story besides her mom, so that Maya does not figure out who’s who at the beginning. This provides an element of uncertainty in the story which turns out to be very rewarding for what it does. Will is an ambitious youngster from Wisconsin who wants to make it big in the political scenario. He moves to New York leaving behind his college sweetheart Emily (Elizabeth Banks), there he meets Emily’s friend Summer (Rachel Weisz) who was at that time in a kind of relationship with her thesis advisor Roth(Kevin Kline).He also makes friends with April(Isla Fisher),a free spirit in nature, and the copy girl at workplace, while at the office. Will’s relationship with these women is portrayed beautifully, and as the story progresses we can only wonder who Maya’s mother will turn out to be. Even if you’re guessing this out, it wouldn’t spoil the movie entirely as how the movie gets there is sweet and intriguing. Though a romantic comedy, this movie doesn’t entirely rely upon the universal healing powers of love or its eternal nature for that matter. While he is in a relationship he is also maintaining friendship with April. Also Will is no crazy romantic unlike most chick flicks.
Definitely Maybe is funny and attractive for a romantic flick but it maintains a limit to it and though it is much of a fantasy it doesn’t overdo the act. One of the flaws in the movie could be the fact that it doesn’t give too much of a screen time to the women characters, Elizabeth Banks for instance hardly gets any screen time though she is one of the main characters, but even in that she performs well. Isla Fisher, cute in her role, is somewhat struck with a stereotyped character. Abigail as Maya is excellent in her role, she always wants her dad to be happy, though her role shows s little too much maturity for a 10 year old. But for what the movie offers and the genre which it is in, these flaws could be overlooked. Rachel Weisz, as a career woman, probably getting the most screen time in the movie, really nails it, in her role as Summer. The film is illustrated in the 1990s and the cinematography is pretty good, the scenarios and the chronology in 1990s are shown very well, like the Nirvana and Bill Clinton’s timeline. Also Will’s job is given some importance unlike other romantic flicks which hardly portray anything happening on the world outside. The movie is narrated as a bedtime story for Maya by Will (who might look too young for a father of a 10yr old) and Will does a pretty good job at it. It offers a respite from the regular stereotyped romances and keeps you in dark about the identity of Maya’s mother until the end. The ending isn’t that bad either. It is pretty, funny and different for a romantic comedy. For anyone who loves this genre this movie is definitely worth a catch.
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