Definitely, Maybe

On my last night (hopefully) without television, I rented another movie from iTunes, Definitely, Maybe.  The premise of the story is newly divorced father William Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) telling his daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) the long journey to his marriage to her mother.

Will moved to New York (from Madison!) in 1992 to work on the Clinton campaign.  He left behind his college girlfriend “Emily” (Elizabeth Banks) but made plans to propose to her when she comes for a visit.  He harbors ambitious plans to become a politician, even the president.  After floundering a bit as the coffee and bagel guy for the campaign staffers, he breaks through one day when he secures donations from wealthy UW grads for the campaign.  While working there he meets April (Isla Fisher) who becomes his friend, though she’s clearly in love with him.  He also meets Summer (Rachel Weisz) when he returns to her a diary that Emily had asked him to deliver.  It turns out that Summer and Emily had been roommates during a year abroad in Cambridge and slept together.

In any case, the story twists and turns as Will flits from one love to another, and in the present, Maya tries to figure out which woman in the story is her mother.  I wont tell you, because that would spoil the ending, but the best parts of the movie come at the end when Maya realizes that perhaps the story is more than she wants to know – especially since a recent sex ed talk at school has left her wondering what it means when someone is born an “accident” and fears that she herself is one.

By the end of the story she feels sorry for her father, sad that he never got his happy ending, though of course he tells her that she did, since he got her.  It’s a cute story, and not overdone between the two actors.  I was very impressed with Abigail Breslin, though I’m not surprised to see her play the role so well.

So, Definitely, Maybe is a better romantic comedy/drama than most, since it does deviate from the standard formula at least a bit.  And, there are multiple references to Jane Eyre, so that makes me happy.