Definitely, Maybe

59

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Universal Pictures (105 minutes)
and Adam Brooks
Ryan Reynolds , Isla Fisher , Derek Luke , Abigail Breslin , Elizabeth Banks , and Rachel Weisz

Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, including some frank dialogue, language and smoking

Summary: Will is a 30-something Manhattan dad in the midst of a divorce whose 10-year-old daughter, Maya, starts to question him about his life before marriage. Maya wants to know absolutely everything about how her parents met and fell in love. Will's story begins in 1992 as a young, starry-eyed aspiring politician who moves to New York from Wisconsin to work on the Clinton campaign. For Maya, Will relives his past as an idealistic young man learning the ins and outs of big-city politics. He also recounts the history of his romantic relationships with three very different women. Will hopelessly attempts a "PG" version of his story for his daughter and changes the names so Maya has to guess which woman her father finally married. Is her mother Will's college sweetheart, the dependable girl-next-door Emily (Elizabeth Banks)? Is she his longtime best friend and confidante, the apolitical April (Isla Fisher)? Or is she the free-spirited but ambitious journalist Summer? As Maya puts together the pieces of her dad's romantic puzzle, she begins to understand that love is not so simple or easy. And as Will tells her his tale, Maya helps him to understand that it's definitely never too late to go back...maybe even to find a happy ending. (Universal Studios)

Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune:
(75) Keeps you interested in its characters and isn’t afraid of complicating your sympathies a little. In these dog-day months for romantic comedy, that means a lot.

Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly:
(75) Absolutely, probably more comfortable with human romantic complication than the usual stuff released on Valentine's Day.

Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle:
(75) A sophisticated story of disappointment and accommodation.

James Berardinelli
ReelViews:
(75) Brooks' take on the ups and downs of modern romance and the unexpected turns it takes is smart, funny, and (above all) uncommon. It's not hard to recommend this on Valentine's Day or at any other time.

Ken Fox
TV Guide:
(75) A lot fresher and bit more sophisticated than the ordinary run of maudlin chick flicks and crude gross-out sex farces that now pass for romantic comedies.

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