Probably Worth It

Definitely, Maybe (Cert 12, 107 mins, Universal Pictures (UK), Comedy/Romance, also available to buy DVD pounds 15.99) Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Abigail Breslin, Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz, Kevin Kline.

*****

ADVERTISING executive Will Hayes (Reynolds) collects his daughter Maya (Breslin) from school and is taken aback when she asks probing questions about his past. He eventually agrees to recount the three love affairs that have shaped his life on the proviso that he can change the women’s names, so that Maya has to guess which one of his loves is her mother. “Once upon a time… before e-mails, cell phones and reality TV shows,” he begins, stepping back in time to 1992 and a tangled web involving college sweetheart Emily (Banks), political campaigner April (Fisher) and aspiring journalist Summer (Weisz). As Maya listens intently to every word, some more carefully chosen than others (“What’s a threesome?”), Will lays bare his affairs of the heart against a backdrop of Clinton’s rise to power and his fall from grace. Recounted in flashback as a modern day fairy-tale, Definitely, Maybe is a bittersweet romantic comedy of 30- something angst and self-reflection. The storytelling device works surprisingly well and isn’t too distracting, gifting Breslin some cute comic interludes, like when Maya fears she has solved the mystery and tells her father: “If she turns out to be my mother, I’ll run away to Canada. I’m not kidding!” Reynolds strikes just the right balance between charming and vulnerable in the lead role, but he has the misfortune to share the screen with four actresses whose dramatic range and comic timing make him seem limited in comparison. At 107 minutes, Adam Brooks’ film overstays its welcome, surrendering to a feelgood coda when the downbeat resolution of the previous scene would have been more fitting and satisfying. Rating: ***

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