Definitely Maybe (2008)

Artwork for Theatrical Release

In the hundred plus years of film's existence, no genre, safe for perhaps the documentary, has been more incendiary as the romantic comedy.  It is often frilly, and cliche, and repetitive, and simple, and for the most part horribly constructed and poorly executed.  This doesn't keep half of the population, myself included, from loving these films, and the other half from using it's presence as a reason to revolt.

But hidden behind the generality of its frivolousness, there are some brilliant gems, like the chemistry and hilarity between Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline in French Kiss (1995) or the raw acting and dorky sexuality of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011).

It is within these parameters that I've supplanted the popularly forgotten Definitely Maybe (2008), the rare romantic comedy that is smart enough to make politics, and more so the antithesis of romance in the Clinton era, the overarching notion in the plot, and doing it well enough to be enjoyable and organic.

The brilliant ensemble cast has much to do with its success:  The academic Summer Hartley (Rachel Weizs), the troubled genius Hampton Roth (Kevin Klein), the very Midwestern singularly named Emily (Elizabeth Banks), and the enchanting, enthralling and equally mononymous rebel April (Isla Fisher) are all at their top acting form, which is a breath of fresh air for genre lovers that are all too accustomed to top tier actors cashing their checks and then phoning it in.

Film Still

The chemistry between the precocious Maya Hayes (Abigail Breslin) and her father, the oft-misguided but ever disarming Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) is engaging and goes a long way towards making this story not just enticing, but also enjoyable and really funny.  And that's no easy task considering the conversations are often peppered with very grown up relationship motifs such as threesomes, thrusting motions and penises.

The script goes a long way towards the beauty of the film.  It takes a very elaborate concept, and an often hectic pace and sprinkles it with the right pauses and the perfect hilarity to make the film feel less overwhelming than it otherwise should have been and never bogged down by the political and romantic points of the narrative.

The script is aided by the mostly conventional camera work which if nothing else, doesn't detract from the characters, which is not to say that there aren't any beautiful or imaginative shots, there are, and when they come, they are very eye opening.


The editing quality drops at times, particularly in the middle, but otherwise stays consistent and inconspicuous.

The film itself takes the basic concept behind How I met Your Mother (2005), or maybe it was the other way around, and combines it with the precociousness of the little girl from Jersey Girl (2004) minus Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez and comes out with a film that should be rightfully added to the annals of cinema.

Ultimately it ends up with a really good 'ode to the biggest little village in the world, and the interconnectedness and the loneliness, and the excitement, and the opportunities, and the climb and the fall and all the things that make people fall in love with NYC.

If you're a fan of this genre, or of any of the actors, or even if you're on the fence with any of them, catch the film in any way you can, you won't regret it.