CHICK FLICK WARNING: This is a review of a romantic comedy. Please stop reading now if this will make you nauseated or contemplate suicide, as "The Life and Times of Chester Cheetah and the Kool-Aid Gang" will not be held liable for any problems this might cause to your machismo.
Classic romantic comedies follow a relatively routine plot formula. If you don't know it by now, a quick viewing of any Nora Ephron movie such as When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless In Seattle, or You've Got Mail will probably get you back up to speed:
- Boy meets girl.
- Boy and girl seemingly hate each other at first, and insult each other repeatedly.
- Boy and girl get involved in other relationships to hide the fact that they actually like each other.
- Boy and girl get stuck in some nonsensical predicament to realize they really love each other.
- Boy and girl go through crazy hijinks to finally meet at the end and live happily ever after.
Initially released in theaters on Valentine's Day, one would have expected Definitely, Maybe to fit in with the typical genre movie. But instead, I was really surprised to find a plot that was quite different, yet still quite touching and even more grounded in reality than most. The movie revolves around Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) telling his daughter Maya (Abigail Breslain) the story of how he met her mother. But instead of a straight forward romantic tale, Will decided to throw three of his prior loves into the mix so that his daughter can guess who her father ultimately ends up with. Is it his college sweetheart Emily (Elizabeth Banks), idealistic hipster April (Isla Fischer), or ambitious journalist Summer (Rachel Weisz)? Maya and the audience are left to figure it out until the end of the film, and in the process we see how Will has grown over the years, as well. To make it even more complicated, the film starts out establishing that Will is about to proceed with a divorce from this mystery woman, so if we really do find out who she is, will they spoil the mood with this impending seperation?
The mystery, of sorts, angle to the whole movie kept me drawn in. And unlike typical films, the writer/director Adam Brooks manages to create three potential women that are truly likeable, rather than villinizing two of them to make the ultimate true love stand out. He also shows how finding your true love sometimes isn't a smooth path. Now most romantic comedies make this journey quite hard, too, but Definitely, Maybe fortunately doesn't resort to crazy chases across Manhattan to catch the girl before she walks down the altar with another man, leaves for Europe, or other nonsense. It's a gradual process of growth and realization that Will has, and it's refreshing to see.
The saccharine, cliched lines are minimal in the film. There's not too much dependence on a eclectic soundtrack to set the mood, either. Instead, we see the transitions of time with the backdrop of the 90's--it's actually quite odd to watch a "period piece" of sorts, and realize that I actually lived through the entire period as an adult. Ryan Reynolds, who I used to enjoy watching back in his TV days on Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place, loses quite a bit of the sarcastic humor that is his usual trademark to play something a bit more subdued. His chemistry with all the female leads is great, and one actress in particular establishes herself as one of those screen characters you just sort of crush on yourself--I'd tell you who, but I think it would give away the ending.
Anywho, if you're looking for a DVD to rent and watch with for a mini date night at home, this one fits the bill quite well.
3 comments:
I take it then that there is no 60s sing-along into a hairbrush, right?
Man I misread your comment FC. My mind must be on something else. At first I thought you said "69 sing along into a hairbush."
Wow, if it had a 69 sing-along into a hairbrush, I might have been tempted to call this the greatest film of all time--hehehe...
There was a brief sing-along moment between two females celebrating the Clinton election with an old Vanessa Williams song (I think even singing into faux invisible microphone), but this was also followed by Ryan Reynold's character and his friend looking on in disgust. I secretly think the writer knows exactly what men hate in the typical chick flick. In this context, it was actually probably OK, given he was trying to harken you back to the 90's.
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