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Definitely, Maybe
Reviewed by Theo Michelfeld
Posted: February 18, 2007

Why would a studio load so many excellent supporting actors into a film, and then cast Ryan Reynolds in the lead role? Is it because Reynolds needs all the help he can get? Or it is because he’s not so doofy an actor after all? Maybe, it’s that he’s not so doofy. Definitely, maybe.

If you’re not familiar with Reynolds’ film portfolio, you’ve been spared a few misspent hours. Even so, sixty seconds into Definitely, Maybe, you may find yourself resenting the guy already. But stick with him. Reynolds, with his angst-defying, frat-boy good looks and generally depthless presence, isn’t half as bad an actor as Tom Cruise, who would have landed just this kind of role back in the eighties. Unlike Cruise, Reynolds has a certain pensiveness (which is not quite the same as thoughtfulness) that seems to suggest he knows who he is—a young soul, who means well, and might as well get laid a lot while consigned to his earthly vessel.

Fortunately, the makers of Definitely, Maybe seem to know their star too. There’s a wisely-written scene, less than halfway into the film, in which Reynolds’ character, Will Hayes, encounters an overbearing, alcoholic, brilliant New York writer, who sizes Will up instantly as a superficial yuppie. Deliberately or not, the scene cemented my sympathy for Will. He is, after all, a political idealist, a resourceful friend, and a human being; he is all of those things despite his exact likeness to Ryan Reynolds. Better still, in a brilliant bit of casting, the ornery writer is portrayed by none other than Kevin Kline, whose presence gives the scene a whole real-world meaning that definitely, definitely works in the film’s favor. After all, Reynolds will never be Kevin Kline. But he can stand in Kline’s shadow, take his medicine, wake up hungover, and get on with his life… just like Will Hayes does in the movie.

At the beginning of the film Will is newly divorced, and disenchanted with life. He has partial custody of his ten year old daughter Mya, and the film gets rolling when she comes home from a sex-ed class and insists that he tell her the story of his entire adult romantic life. This conversation becomes not only a plot device by which we retrace each convoluted step of Will’s love life, but also Will’s means of retrieving the nerve to follow his heart. Mya is played by Abigail Breslin, a fearlessly adorable actor with an inspired sense of comedic timing. Meanwhile, Will’s past girlfriends, whom we meet in a series of flashbacks, are portrayed by Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz, and Isla Fisher. All three give excellent and beautiful performances, most especially Isla Fisher. There’s a scene at the end of this film where she just about broke my heart, and also convinced me she’s an acting genius. The promise she showed in The Wedding Crashers and The Lookout was no fluke.

I devote so many words to the acting in this film because that’s mostly what it has to offer. That said, there is something very satisfying about a movie in which a conversation between a father and his daughter actually goes somewhere. When all’s said and done, Definitely, Maybe is a film with a lot of charm, a lot of heart, and a bit more depth than meets the eye. Which, come to think of it, sounds a lot like Ryan Reynolds. So did they cast the right guy in the lead role after all? Maybe. Just maybe.

Copyright © 2008 Theo Michelfeld