Definitely, Maybe

definitely_maybe.jpgrating-3.5One must give Ryan Reynolds credit. The man has range. And he's been excellent in everything I've ever seen him in. Not to say that every movie he's been in is great, be he's definnitley been a highlight of every one of them. That someone so funny can also so artfully play drama is... well, truthfully, it's common. Comedians more often than not make the best dramatic actors. There's a greater art in comedy than drama. But he still excels in all fields.

Definitely, Maybe doesn't quite live up to its potential and, though Ryan Reynolds pulls through, one has to miss the sort of comedic promise that a movie like this offers. It's billed as being "from the makers of Notting Hill and Love Actually," though to call that misleading would be kind. I grow weary of the bullshit advertising of producers who worked on one film making another. Who the fuck cares if you were the producer of some amazing film? You didn't write it or direct you. You probably have no creative bone in your body and wouldn't know a good film if it fucked your mom. Stop trying to play up to my love for good movies by claiming them as your own.

Instead, we get a film from the maker of Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason and Practical Magic (a clusterfuck of badness if I've ever seen it), not the type of pedigree one can play up like Love Actually. Oh, if only it had the humor that Richard Curtis manages so easily in his movies, then we'd be on to something. Instead, the movie is somewhat more straightforward and definitely underuses Ryan Reynold's comedic abilities. The same can be said for Elizabeth Banks and Isla Fisher who both give good performances but don't get to shine comedically. Oddly, Rachel Weisz actually feels to be the most fun and freespirited of the movie's women, an odd claim.

Of course, Abigail Breslin is also good and manages to add to the trend of child actors that are both intelligent, funny, and so very not annoying.

Overall, the plot is decent though not quite up to what one would hope for, perhaps the real flaw of this movie... Its high expectations may have diminished it to some degree. But the movie feels good and doesn't strain to reach the overly happy treacle ending, instead going for a satisfying one. The ending is still happy, but there's a great deal more logic to it than romantic comedies are generally given.

All in all, it's a good story and may actually suit its male viewers better than its female, harkening back to our youthful exuberence and missed opportunities. I think we all wish it'd end as happily as this, even if we'd  hope for more humor.

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