I recently watched Definitely, Maybe, starring Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder) and Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine). While it was quite obviously a chick flick, the theater seemed to hold more men than women. Ironically, I did not hear any male complaints after it was over. The entire movie is a story between father and daughter. Reynolds is a recently divorced father with a young daughter curious about her father’s past. The entire movie is the daughter’s quest to figure out which, of three past girlfriends, is her mother. In the end, her prediction is correct, and the movie has a happy ending.

The only complaint I have about this movie is its predictability. Although the movie was misleading in the beginning, the ending clarified every vague detail. So I cannot complain about that. However, the idea behind the movie was your typical “chick flick romance”. The plot was creative, but it was that “chick flick romance” simply multiplied by three. By the end of the first hour, you knew what was going to happen, and with whom it was going to happen.
Other than that, I recommend this film to a friend (most likely female). There were two aspects I really enjoyed about the movie. The first one was that it was clean. Normally when I see a PG-13 rating, I hesitate inviting my mother to see it with me. I saw this one with her, and we both agreed that it was not a borderline “rated R sex fest”. It was good, clean humor, which made it realistic for the viewer. The entire movie is in story form, so what father would go into sexual details with his daughter? None that I know of. The second thing I enjoyed was the emotional connection between father and daughter. Very rarely do movies deviate from a mother-daughter relationship; however, this movie captured very real feelings and issues between a father and his young daughter. At one point in the movie, Breslin’s acting was so well done, that I had to wipe a tear from my eye. She is a phenomenal actress.
Overall, the acting was excellent. It was very believable, and I was able to remove certain stars from previous roles without a problem. For example, Isla Fisher, who played a psychotic younger sister in Wedding Crashers, played a mellow role as one of Reynolds’ past love interests. As a viewer, I was able to see her in that role without comparing this performance to that of Vince Vaughan’s girlfriend. I definitely recommend this movie to any female who loves cheesy love stories, and does not mind staring at Ryan Reynolds for two hours.
By: Caitlyn Pilkington
Copyright butyoudontlooksick.com 2008