The majority of films about divorced parents are told from the mother’s perspective while the father is usually absent or no good. ‘Bye Bye Love,’ released in 1995, was distinct for being about three caring fathers, the limited time with their children, and moving on with new women.
Over 10 years later, ‘Definitely Maybe’ tries to fill another small space in the good-father story void. After Maya comes home talking about the school’s sex-ed assembly, she begs her father, Will Hayes, to tell her the true story of how he and her mother Sarah fell in love. He insists his love life’s past is complicated and Maya would not understand, but he eventually gives in under the condition of turning it into a guessing game involving the two other women he fell in love with, and Maya must figure out Sarah for herself.
Maya sets up her bed pillows and Will begins as a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin — Madison. He moves to NYC to work for the ’92 Bill Clinton Presidential campaign but must leave behind the simple and nice blonde, Emily. Their long distance relationship lasts until she admits to having slept with Will’s friend, breaking his heart. The night before Will was to propose to Emily, he bonded with his office’s smart and (political and spirited) independent red head copy girl, April, over a cigarette burning contest and Nirvana’s ‘Come As You Are.’
Their friendship, although not always smooth, withstands the next six years and throughout Will’s next few girlfriends; including Emily’s well-educated brunette friend Summer. To play with the audience (rather than Maya), just as one woman is on her way out, another of the three re-enters his life. The audience follows Will’s story as Maya listens. The flashbacks end as she interrupts with questions. It is a consistent simple narration told in ‘real enough’ time.
Although we are given physical descriptions of Emily, April, and Summer due to watching the characters, Maya will conclude the winner due to personal experience. However, she is not allowed to quickly pick up on the key clues that represent Sarah because then the story would have to end and thus the movie is over.
When Sarah is revealed, the actress who plays her has the right look on her face: happy to see her daughter, completely unaware Will has just finished talking about their early history, and ready to receive the audience’s reaction. After Will’s long journey through time and reevaluating his past, he is able to look at Sarah with slightly more than neutral affections. But it is obvious something is missing. Only when this was solved did the movie end.
The ending itself calls into question what director Adam Brook’s message was. From the beginning it is obvious that Will married the wrong woman because they are getting divorced. For Maya to know what brought her parents together is important but we don’t know if she knows why her mother began the divorce proceedings. Will and Maya have a healthy and admirable father-daughter relationship that would have been expected to weather her upcoming teen years. As mentioned before, the women come in and out of his life but, of course, just at the right moments. Will is always involved with at least one of them, which doesn’t allow him to be alone. Part of why the relationships fail is because he is not given a chance to figure out what he wants.
Ryan Reynolds as Will was the best choice because he has that ‘college frat-yet-young responsible dad’ look. After having starred in ‘Van Wilder’ and ‘Waiting,’ then moving on to ‘Smokin’ Aces,’ Reynolds will progressively get even better and more recognition. His future is well anticipated.
Abigail Breslin’s career has been non-stop since ‘Little Miss Sunshine.’ She can be considered the new Mae Whitman, who had roles in ‘Bye Bye Love,’ ‘Independence Day,’ ‘One Fine Day,’ and ‘Hope Floats.’
Since the women were seen through only the storyteller’s perspective, none of the women had their own stories, but still managed to act out their parts with enough depth. It was, however, disappointing that Rachel Weisz has not performed up to par lately and this character was not right for her.
‘Definitely Maybe’ is not the typical romance for Valentine’s Day, but rather should have been released closer to Father’s Day.
