Definitely, Maybe

Andrew Schwartz/Universal Studios

Review in a Hurry:  Divorcé dad Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) tells the story of his love life to his precocious daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin). Don't worry—it's not as icky as it sounds. Definitely is definitely not the best rom-com ever, though maybe one of the better ones Hollywood churns out this year.

The Bigger Picture:  Romantic comedies are by nature formulaic and predictable, and that's not always a bad thing. There's enjoyment in seeing love-struck characters figure out what we, the insightful audience, know long before they do: They're meant to be together forever. We like happy absolutes in our fairy-tale endings, right?

Ten-year-old Maya certainly wants one.

One evening, with her parents in the midst of a divorce, she insists that her dad, Will, a Manhattan advertising exec, explain how he and her mother, unknown to Maya, met and fell in love. The moppet hopes Will's fond memories will prompt their reconciliation, but as she learns, love is more complicated than that. Yeah, it's a battlefield, kid.

Will's bedtime story, told in flashback, illuminates his relationships with three lovely ladies: Emily (Elizabeth Banks), the college sweetheart he leaves in Wisconsin to work on Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign; April (Isla Fisher), an underachieving free spirit; and Summer (Rachel Weisz), an aspiring journalist who's bedding an older writer-professor (Kevin Kline).

The pic pinballs between Will's romantic entanglements, with his own rocky political career—as well as Clinton's—serving as backdrop.

Who is Will's future ex-wife/Maya's mom? Will Will get another chance at love? And does Bill have sexual relations with that woman? "It's a mystery love story!" Maya squeals. But there's not much mystery to squeal about, since any seasoned moviegoer can guess where this is going. Still, as with most rom-coms, the fun comes from seeing how the plot pushes lovers together and pulls them apart.

The pic proves smarter than previews suggest, though the script isn't as urbane as it strives to be. Fortunately, Definitely avoids cutesy clichés of the genre and offers more chuckles and plot turns than you might expect. (Even an obvious payoff involving a copy of Jane Eyre has a bit of a twist.)

With his boyish charm and good looks, Reynolds makes a likable leading man, and he gets strong backup from Fisher and Weisz, who sass up the screen. Little Miss Breslin is sweet without being cloying, and Kline lends an air of sophistication in his too-brief turn as an acid-tongued political analyst with a taste for booze and coeds.