Definitely, Maybe (2008)
With Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell as the original story of a girl who doesn’t know which of three possible candidates is her father, and Mamma Mia! as the musical version of the same story, why was it necessary to create Definitely, Maybe? This romantic comedy twists the story on its ear, and it’s not a very comfortable position.
Ryan Reynolds is waiting for his soon-to-be ex-wife to pick up their daughter, Abigail Breslin, and during the down-time, he decides to tell Abby a story. It’s not Cinderella or Snow White, but instead the story of how he and her mother fell in love. He tells of his escapades with three separate women, and asks Abby which she thinks is the story about her mother. In the meantime, the audience sees three actresses (Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Banks, and Rachel Weisz) portrayed in the stories, but we’re not exposed to the identity of the real mother.
I don’t find that plot compelling. In the first place, most children don’t care about their parents’ backstories, so Abby wouldn’t become engrossed in her dad’s tale. In the second, since her parents are getting a divorce, and since children aren’t capable of understanding divorce, Abby wouldn’t get excited about hearing how her parents fell in love when the entire reason her world has turned upside down is because they fell out of love. In the third, it’s a universal theme (and it may be sexist, but it’s the truth) that trying to find out the identity of one’s father is more interesting than one’s mother. The mother is forced to stick around and raise the child; the father can leave if he wants to. Unless this is a story of an adopted girl coming across three potential files of women who gave up their babies on the same day, it’s not very interesting. And how is it supposed to be seen as good parenting to talk about three women as a way of explaining why you’re divorcing one of them?
More Kevin Kline movies here!
Ryan Reynolds is waiting for his soon-to-be ex-wife to pick up their daughter, Abigail Breslin, and during the down-time, he decides to tell Abby a story. It’s not Cinderella or Snow White, but instead the story of how he and her mother fell in love. He tells of his escapades with three separate women, and asks Abby which she thinks is the story about her mother. In the meantime, the audience sees three actresses (Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Banks, and Rachel Weisz) portrayed in the stories, but we’re not exposed to the identity of the real mother.
I don’t find that plot compelling. In the first place, most children don’t care about their parents’ backstories, so Abby wouldn’t become engrossed in her dad’s tale. In the second, since her parents are getting a divorce, and since children aren’t capable of understanding divorce, Abby wouldn’t get excited about hearing how her parents fell in love when the entire reason her world has turned upside down is because they fell out of love. In the third, it’s a universal theme (and it may be sexist, but it’s the truth) that trying to find out the identity of one’s father is more interesting than one’s mother. The mother is forced to stick around and raise the child; the father can leave if he wants to. Unless this is a story of an adopted girl coming across three potential files of women who gave up their babies on the same day, it’s not very interesting. And how is it supposed to be seen as good parenting to talk about three women as a way of explaining why you’re divorcing one of them?
More Kevin Kline movies here!