Definitely, Maybe Rated PG-13 (for sexual content, including some frank dialogue, language and smoking) Genre:Romance, Comedy Theater release: February 14, 2008 by Universal Pictures Directed by: Adam Brooks Runtime: 111 minutes Cast: Ryan Reynolds (Will Hayes), Abigail Breslin (Maya Hayes), Rachel Weisz (Summer Hartley), Isla Fisher (April), Elizabeth Banks (Emily) Related: • Talk About It/Family Corner • What Others Are Saying

The romantic comedy Definitely, Maybe starts with lead character Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) receiving divorce papers. Shortly after, his 10-year-old daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) starts asking Dad questions about his love story with Mom. After much prodding, he tells Maya his entire (and seemingly uncensored) dating history—with names changed—to see if Maya can guess which woman is her mom.

Why would he do that? Well, maybe (or definitely) it's just to give this romantic comedy a gimmick to make it different. And it works. This fresh "romantic mystery" formula gives the movie a kick of originality lacking from most cookie-cutter romantic comedies, including writer/director Adam Brooks' less successful stabs at the genre (Wimbledon, Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason, French Kiss). There's a lot to like here, starting with the naturally affable Reynolds (best known from Van Wilder) in what could be a breakout role for him. He shares a very fun chemistry with Breslin (who stole Little Miss Sunshine, but has little more to do here than look cute). Rachel Weisz and Isla Fisher create great characters as two of Will's exes. And, on the surface, the movie is charming, likable, and sweet.

Abigail Breslin as Maya Hayes, Ryan Reynolds as her dad, Will

But when viewed more closely, Definitely, Maybe starts to unravel. After all, the whole gimmick that sets it apart (Maya's guessing game) is a mystery that the audience cannot possibly guess. But that's not because the puzzle is cleverly constructed—like Lost or something. Instead, Maya accurately spots her mom from Will's parade of girlfriends with one tiny detail she knows about her mom—but the audience doesn't. The gimmick unravels even more when you realize that if Will really told Maya the story out loud, he wouldn't mention the information that tips her off. It's a visual cue that she'd only pick up if she were watching this movie with us—not hearing a verbal story.

The mystery of Who's Maya's Momma? is heavily reliant on Will's turnstile love life. (This aspect prompts Maya to ask if there's a boy word for slut, but we'll get to that in a moment.) There are three women in Will's story: college sweetheart Emily (Elizabeth Banks), the liberal and ambitious Summer (Weisz), and the cute and sassy April (Fisher). To keep the mystery interesting, Will's love stories with the three continually weave in and out. After a while, it gets old. It seems like every time he breaks up with one, one of the others coincidentally pops up. Besides that, it's easy to pick out which romance the film is most invested in. After all, if you've seen enough romantic comedies, you can recognize the genre-inherent "cute meeting" and "sweet connection point" from a mile away.

Elizabeth Banks as one of Will's exes

Back to Will's turnstile love life: Some will applaud the movie for showing romance realistically. After all, it shows that love is hard. Relationships end. Divorce is real. Messy and confused humans result in messy and broken interactions. It is nice to see a movie not just end on that that big first kiss and swelling music leading us to believe they'll live happily ever after. Instead, by telling the love story of a couple in the throes of divorce, we see the sad and stark reality that any relationship could end happily if you just put the closing credits in the right place. However, what happens then?

While the movie injects this bit of real life, it doesn't show what does makes a successful relationship look any different than the others. There's no indication of why some relationships work and others don't. We don't know why Will chose to marry Maya's mother (despite a torrid history) or why they're now divorcing. Nor is there any hope of overcoming those struggles and honoring the marital vows. Instead, a rekindled hope for romance gives the movie its requisite happy ending. But it doesn't feel any different. It doesn't seem to be built on a better foundation or be supported by any lessons learned. Why should we think this will last?

Rachel Weisz as another ex

In fact, for many Christians, the film is a reminder of the bleakness and brokenness of worldly love without Christ. It's one big display of the emptiness and hopelessness of promiscuity and premarital sex. (And the film is awfully sexual.)

Even more disturbing: Will is telling this story to his 10-year-old daughter—with details. In fact, the movie tries to have fun with the idea that this guy is telling a kid all his dirty laundry. Maya often stops the stories with comments on things like threesomes and her dad smoking. While the movie never stoops to the crass frat-boy humor of films like Knocked Up, a lot of its intended laughs come hearing an 10-year-old often saying words like penis, vagina, slut, and the b-word.

Of course, many of my complaints about Definitely, Maybe come from looking way deeper than the charm, heart and fluffiness of an often-fun, above-average romantic comedy with a unique twist. But maybe (definitely) that's what we need to do to think through Hollywood's messages about love.

Talk About It

Discussion starters

1. What do you think of the story Will tells Maya? Would you feel comfortable telling your kid your past in this way? Why or why not? What lessons or impressions about adult relationships and love do you think Maya is left with? 2. Think about your dating history. How would you someday (or now) tell the story to your kids? What would you leave out and why? What lessons or messages would you try to impart through your past? 3. What lessons does Maya help Will learn? How is he different at the end of the film than in the beginning?

The Family Corner

For parents to consider

Definitely, Maybe is rated PG-13 for sexual content, including some frank dialogue, language and smoking. There are no actual scenes of sex, but it's talked about extensively (even with the 10-year-old) and hinted at many times (e.g., scenes of unmarried couples waking up together). There are a fair share of other swear words and taking the Lord's name in vain. The father character discusses some pretty objectionable things with his daughter, like threesomes.

Photos © Copyright Universal Pictures

© Todd Hertz subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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