Fulltime Casual - An Australian Film and TV Podcast

I did also watch a couple of other movies last week - one was Definitely, Maybe which is a fairly new release in the video store.  Full disclosure: I have a slight addiction to watching rom-coms, no matter how crap they are.  There’s something quite soothing about watching something that can be quite formulaic, and knowing pretty much how it will finish with a happy they-get-together ending.

At any rate, this movie is from the same producers as Love Actually and Notting Hill (which, if you look at the promotional material long enough, seems to have employed the same graphic designers as well) and like both those movies, is really quite watchable.  When you’ve watched as many bad teen rom-coms starring Freddie Prinze Jr as I have, you really do appreciate ones that are well acted, and have interesting elements in it.

Definitely, Maybe is essentially a romantic-mystery: the main plot point is how a child, Maya (Abigail Breslin) tries to find out which character her mother is in the story her father Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) tells her about how they met and fell in love.  The twist?  We know from the beginning of the movie that the Maya’s parents are in the process of a divorce.  How can there be a happy ending?  That’s where the interest lies and I found it very deftly done.  The humour’s light and very dry and the female leads did an excellent job.  Rachel Weisz has an amazing screen charisma to her and Isla Fisher seems to be making her mark in these types of light roles.  Ryan Reynolds does some solid work, although I can’t help thinking another male lead would have made it more affecting (Mark Ruffalo perhaps?).

Overall it’s worth renting out for a date night with your partner.  Or for those single girls out there who still secretly dream of having that happy ending.  Rating: 3/5 stars