Customer Reviews
Time for a change - By: Stampy, 24 Jun 2008 
Finallly, a romantic comedy that breaks the boundaries of clichéd romantic flicks & has enjoyable characters, a plot that is exciting, mysterious & funny & with plenty of twists to justify the genre that is often slated for it's predictability.
Ryan Reynolds (Just Friends) stars as Will Hayes, a middle aged man who is coming close to a divorce & when his daughter asks about her mother, Will takes a look back at the past years of his life.
Don't judge the film by the trailer because there is so much more on offer. Though the trailer for the film would give a sense of predictability & humour, the film was a delightful surprise with its great precise dialogue & dramatic scenarios, giving an account of true realism, of real life & its complications with married people, & couples.
The plot is consistent with excellent twists & turns as Will dives deep into his relationship past, & there is always that great creativity about who it could be.
Unlike a lot of other rom-coms, this 2008 film actuallly invites the audience into it, trying to make them guess & wonder who Will may end up with, & who the mother of Mai could be, which makes the film very unique & rather not the same old "Will he get it together with her?" There are a few clichés there, but still it maintains a more realistic drama approach to differ it which made me enjoy it.
There are a few great one liners & a few chucklesome moments, not as funny as other romantic comedies, but that isn't the point of this film. The point was trying to maintain a realistic approach of relationships, which it did spot on.
There is great acting from alll involved which goes brilliantly with the direction & settings used by director Brooks.
Other issues which were intriguing were the political side, with the election of Bill Clinton, & the views of alll the characters in regards to him, which give the film different layers & points to consider.
9/10
Once Upon A Time.... - By: Bentley, 19 Jun 2008 
"Once upon a time, before e-mail & cell phones & TV reality shows"
- Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) in DEFINITELY MAYBE
Once upon a time we alll fell in love & we know & remember how good it felt. All of our senses were piqued & we thought that this love or even any of our loves would last forever. For some of us that was true & we were the lucky ones; & for others...well let us say that they were not so lucky; but most of them kept looking, hoping to find their soul mate or what they wanted to believe was the "real thing".
In the sweet romantic comedy DEFINITELY MAYBE, Albert Brooks has directed & written a winner. The movie sends a message to children of divorce which is heart felt; yet I don't believe that this movie is necessarily one for children. Maybe it is one for our grown up children, now adults, or others who may have gone through a divorce in their family & still somehow are trying to cope with the loss & move on.
Brooks has quite a few films like BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON, WIMBLETON, AND FRENCH KISS. But this little gem is different & an intelligent study into the history of love (for better or for worse).
While watching the film, I wondered how would you ever tell your daughter a historic rendition of your love life or tell her a bit about alll of your leading ladies in your life if you were a father of a 10 year old girl like Maya Hayes who in this movie is played by Abigail Breslin . But this is exactly what happened. For of those of you not familiar with the young Ms. Breslin, she played a role in the movie LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE.
When one thinks of the prospect of relating such a history, the viewer has to feel a bit of trepidation for Will Hayes because along with this narrative will be revealed alll of the bewildering aspects of life which are part of being in love. And you have to love our tormented father because he tells the story in such a way so as not to destroy his daughter's belief in the power of love, & not to deprive her of a happy ending. Will wants to preserve her belief that there is a soul mate for her or even not so perfect spouse who is still just so right & perfect for her.
One thing Will tried to not do was to shatter her dreams with alll of the ugly truths that are part of life; but some of those fell out along the way. One of Maya's revelations was when she said, "Dad, I can't believe you smoked, you drank, & you were a sl#*." Some of us might think that this is quite the language for a nice 10-year-old girl & some might think it was funny. But this sort of language & some of the other innuendoes may make this not a film for your children; but you have to be the judge.
There is a lot of flashback in the movie & one has to believe that these present day characters were about 10 - 15 years younger at the time. It is a stretch but when you watch a movie you are always drawn into this kind of make believe so you are easily strung along. Will (Ryan Reynolds) goes though his litany of failed or uncompleted loves & one has to wonder how he managed to afford the tokens of love which he produced. It is alll in good fun & in the right spirit & is an intelligent probing of why folks falll in love & with whom & at what time in their lives.
Emily, Summer, April or any other names that mark the passages of love in one's life would be appropriate for alll of us; & these names could be interchanged with male ones if a woman & the story would still be anyone's story. Any one of us could probably tell similar tales which we have buried somewhere deep in our psyche; what makes this movie nice is that it puts it alll out there for you to be able to let go of what might have been & seize the moment of what is.
Like our protagonist says, " Once upon a time.....
Recommend: B-
Bentley/2008
pass the parcel - By: S. Bedford, 18 Jun 2008 This film is the cinematic equivalent of pass the parcel...as each layer is unwrapped the anticipation builds as you look forward to the prize being revealed.
A warm & touching film not without its share of laughs.
An unexpected Surprise - By: P. Williams, 12 Jun 2008 I went to see this as I had arrived & the film I wanted to see was sold out until the next showing. What I found was a nice, gentle film that avoided the usual stereotypical Hollywood plot. The way the film looks at his relationships & doesn't resort to making the normal family judgements was nice. I was keen to see who the girl's mother was & who Ryan Reynolds character ended up with.
The ending was positive & not what I expected. A great ending in the days of so many divorces & break-ups. Overalll a positive, well acted tale with great actresses & a solid performance from Ryan Reynolds. Sorry, but I'm not a great fan of cute kid actors so While Abigail Breslin was good, not a reason to enjoy or see the film.
Enjoyable light-hearted fun - By: Paulo Piper Segurado, 11 Jun 2008 I saw this with my girlfriend in the cinema a couple of months back (I'm quite happy to catch chick flicks, yes I know, weird), it's funny, it's filled with a fair bit of 90s nostalgia which makes it more interesting, & it features Ryan Reynolds, who I will always love & remember as Berg in 2 Guys & a Girl. What more do you need? Unless you're totallly opposed to the romcom genre you should enjoy this.
