Definitely, Maybe
Encyclopedia
Definitely, Maybe is a 2008
romantic comedy film
directed by Adam Brooks, and starring Ryan Reynolds
, Isla Fisher
, Rachel Weisz
, Elizabeth Banks
, Abigail Breslin
and Kevin Kline
.
) is a 38-year-old father who is in the midst of a divorce. After her first sex-ed class
, his 10-year-old daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin
) insists on hearing the story of how her parents met. Will gives in, but decides to change the names and some of the facts relating to the various love affairs of his youth, thereby creating a love mystery; Maya is left guessing which of the women will turn out to be her mother. The story he tells Maya is depicted in long flashbacks. From time to time the film switches back to the present, where Maya comments (often disdainfully) and asks questions.
The story begins in 1992 when Will, a starry-eyed aspiring politician
, moves away from Wisconsin
and his college
sweetheart, Emily (Elizabeth Banks
) to New York City, where he works on the Clinton campaign
. Over the years, Will becomes involved with three women who enter and re-enter his life, including Summer Hartley (Rachel Weisz
) an aspiring journalist, and April (Isla Fisher
) the copy girl for the campaign
. Will and April have a chance meeting outside work, where Will reveals he is going to propose to Emily. When Will practices his proposal to Emily on April, she is taken aback by Will's heartfelt words, and replies, "Definitely, maybe." They go back to her apartment, where April has multiple copies of Jane Eyre
in her collection, explaining that her father gave her a copy with an inscription in the front shortly before he died, and the book was later lost. She has spent years looking through copies of Jane Eyre at secondhand stores hoping to find the copy her father gave her, but she buys any copy she finds that has inscription. They suddenly kiss, but Will backs away and leaves.
Emily comes back to New York where she confesses, just after Will proposes, that she slept with his roommate. She did it on purpose to break up with Will, saying that she is "letting him go" because she doesn't share his rather lofty aspirations. After Clinton is elected, Will opens a campaigning business with most of his work colleagues, which enjoys a good amount of success.
Before Will left Wisconsin, Emily asked Will to deliver a package to her former roommate, Summer Hartley, who is living in New York City. Will first meets Summer when he gives her the package, a diary that she wrote when she was a teenager (which, among other things, tells of a brief affair with Emily). He finds she is going out with a famous writer who is old enough to be her father. However, the writer breaks up with Summer and Will starts a relationship with her. Meanwhile, April quits her job and goes to travel around the world. Will plans to propose to Summer when April comes back to tell him she loves him. However, she sees Will's intentions and reluctantly congratulates him instead. Summer writes a derogatory article about one of Will's clients, which causes the end of her relationship with Will. As a result of the article, Will loses his business and his dream of a political career goes down the drain.
April calls after a long while and finds that Will is unemployed and unhappy. She throws a birthday party for him where he is reunited with his old colleagues. In a drunken rant, Will confesses his romantic feelings for April, but in the process ends up having a fight with her, questioning why she works in a used book store and telling her to "go to life rehab." Some time later, while walking the streets Will passes a used book store and sees the copy of Jane Eyre with the inscription from April's father. Will goes to April's apartment to give her the book, but he decides against it when he meets her live-in boyfriend Kevin.
Emily re-enters Will's life when she moves to New York City, and turns out to be Maya's mother and Will's ex-wife, as Maya correctly guesses. Will explains to Maya that his story had a happy ending, which was Maya. Will and Maya share a hug and part ways as Maya leaves with her mother. At home, Will finds the book he has been saving for April, and goes to the offices of Amnesty International, where April is now working. After learning that April is now single again, Will gives her the book. But, when April finds out that Will had been holding on to the book for years, she becomes upset and asks him to leave.
Maya is happy that she figured out the story, but also realizes that her father still loves April, as even though Will changed the names of Emily (Sarah in real life), and Summer (Natasha in real life), he did not change April's name. Encouraged by Maya, they go to April's apartment, where Will confesses to April that he held on to the copy of Jane Eyre because it was the only thing he had left of her. As the three enter into April's building, April springs into Will's arms and kisses him.
certified it "fresh" with 73% of critics giving the film positive reviews, based on 102 reviews. The site also gave the consensus, "With a clever script and charismatic leads, Definitely, Maybe is a refreshing entry into the romantic comedy genre." Metacritic
reported the film had an average score of 59 out of 100, based on 30 reviews.
and Canada
, ranking #5 at the box office. As of September 28, 2008, the film has grossed $55,447,968 worldwide.
by prolific English composer Clint Mansell
. Lakeshore Records
released the score on March 18, 2008. All Music Guide
review William Ruhlmann praised the album as filled with "sweet, melodic numbers that often seem to lack only a lyric to turn them into pop songs". He also stated that it functioned as "light accompaniment to an equally light entertainment."
June 24, 2008. The DVD featured a widescreen transfer, deleted scenes, two short featurettes, and a commentary track by the director Adam Brooks and lead actor Ryan Reynolds.
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
directed by Adam Brooks, and starring Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Rodney Reynolds is a Canadian film and television actor, best known for his roles in such films as National Lampoon's Van Wilder, Waiting..., The Amityville Horror, Just Friends, Definitely, Maybe, The Proposal, Buried, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Green Lantern.One of his best known...
, Isla Fisher
Isla Fisher
Isla Lang Fisher is an actress and author. She began acting on Australian television, on the short-lived soap opera Paradise Beach before playing Shannon Reed on the soap opera Home and Away...
, Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz
Rachel Hannah Weisz born 7 March 1970)is an English-American film and theatre actress and former fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues...
, Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...
, Abigail Breslin
Abigail Breslin
Abigail Kathleen Breslin is an American teen actress. She is one of the youngest actresses ever to be nominated for an Academy Award....
and Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline
Kevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...
.
Plot
Will Hayes (Ryan ReynoldsRyan Reynolds
Ryan Rodney Reynolds is a Canadian film and television actor, best known for his roles in such films as National Lampoon's Van Wilder, Waiting..., The Amityville Horror, Just Friends, Definitely, Maybe, The Proposal, Buried, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Green Lantern.One of his best known...
) is a 38-year-old father who is in the midst of a divorce. After her first sex-ed class
Sex education
Sex education refers to formal programs of instruction on a wide range of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and...
, his 10-year-old daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin
Abigail Breslin
Abigail Kathleen Breslin is an American teen actress. She is one of the youngest actresses ever to be nominated for an Academy Award....
) insists on hearing the story of how her parents met. Will gives in, but decides to change the names and some of the facts relating to the various love affairs of his youth, thereby creating a love mystery; Maya is left guessing which of the women will turn out to be her mother. The story he tells Maya is depicted in long flashbacks. From time to time the film switches back to the present, where Maya comments (often disdainfully) and asks questions.
The story begins in 1992 when Will, a starry-eyed aspiring politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, moves away from Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
and his college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
sweetheart, Emily (Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...
) to New York City, where he works on the Clinton campaign
Bill Clinton presidential campaign, 1992
Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign for President of the United States was a critical turning point for the Democratic Party, which had controlled the White House for only four of the previous twenty-four years. Initially viewed as an unlikely prospect to win his party's nomination, Clinton did so and...
. Over the years, Will becomes involved with three women who enter and re-enter his life, including Summer Hartley (Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz
Rachel Hannah Weisz born 7 March 1970)is an English-American film and theatre actress and former fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues...
) an aspiring journalist, and April (Isla Fisher
Isla Fisher
Isla Lang Fisher is an actress and author. She began acting on Australian television, on the short-lived soap opera Paradise Beach before playing Shannon Reed on the soap opera Home and Away...
) the copy girl for the campaign
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
. Will and April have a chance meeting outside work, where Will reveals he is going to propose to Emily. When Will practices his proposal to Emily on April, she is taken aback by Will's heartfelt words, and replies, "Definitely, maybe." They go back to her apartment, where April has multiple copies of Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published in London, England, in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. with the title Jane Eyre. An Autobiography under the pen name "Currer Bell." The first American edition was released the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York...
in her collection, explaining that her father gave her a copy with an inscription in the front shortly before he died, and the book was later lost. She has spent years looking through copies of Jane Eyre at secondhand stores hoping to find the copy her father gave her, but she buys any copy she finds that has inscription. They suddenly kiss, but Will backs away and leaves.
Emily comes back to New York where she confesses, just after Will proposes, that she slept with his roommate. She did it on purpose to break up with Will, saying that she is "letting him go" because she doesn't share his rather lofty aspirations. After Clinton is elected, Will opens a campaigning business with most of his work colleagues, which enjoys a good amount of success.
Before Will left Wisconsin, Emily asked Will to deliver a package to her former roommate, Summer Hartley, who is living in New York City. Will first meets Summer when he gives her the package, a diary that she wrote when she was a teenager (which, among other things, tells of a brief affair with Emily). He finds she is going out with a famous writer who is old enough to be her father. However, the writer breaks up with Summer and Will starts a relationship with her. Meanwhile, April quits her job and goes to travel around the world. Will plans to propose to Summer when April comes back to tell him she loves him. However, she sees Will's intentions and reluctantly congratulates him instead. Summer writes a derogatory article about one of Will's clients, which causes the end of her relationship with Will. As a result of the article, Will loses his business and his dream of a political career goes down the drain.
April calls after a long while and finds that Will is unemployed and unhappy. She throws a birthday party for him where he is reunited with his old colleagues. In a drunken rant, Will confesses his romantic feelings for April, but in the process ends up having a fight with her, questioning why she works in a used book store and telling her to "go to life rehab." Some time later, while walking the streets Will passes a used book store and sees the copy of Jane Eyre with the inscription from April's father. Will goes to April's apartment to give her the book, but he decides against it when he meets her live-in boyfriend Kevin.
Emily re-enters Will's life when she moves to New York City, and turns out to be Maya's mother and Will's ex-wife, as Maya correctly guesses. Will explains to Maya that his story had a happy ending, which was Maya. Will and Maya share a hug and part ways as Maya leaves with her mother. At home, Will finds the book he has been saving for April, and goes to the offices of Amnesty International, where April is now working. After learning that April is now single again, Will gives her the book. But, when April finds out that Will had been holding on to the book for years, she becomes upset and asks him to leave.
Maya is happy that she figured out the story, but also realizes that her father still loves April, as even though Will changed the names of Emily (Sarah in real life), and Summer (Natasha in real life), he did not change April's name. Encouraged by Maya, they go to April's apartment, where Will confesses to April that he held on to the copy of Jane Eyre because it was the only thing he had left of her. As the three enter into April's building, April springs into Will's arms and kisses him.
Cast
- Ryan ReynoldsRyan ReynoldsRyan Rodney Reynolds is a Canadian film and television actor, best known for his roles in such films as National Lampoon's Van Wilder, Waiting..., The Amityville Horror, Just Friends, Definitely, Maybe, The Proposal, Buried, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Green Lantern.One of his best known...
as William Matthew 'Will' Hayes - Isla FisherIsla FisherIsla Lang Fisher is an actress and author. She began acting on Australian television, on the short-lived soap opera Paradise Beach before playing Shannon Reed on the soap opera Home and Away...
as April Hoffman - Abigail BreslinAbigail BreslinAbigail Kathleen Breslin is an American teen actress. She is one of the youngest actresses ever to be nominated for an Academy Award....
as Maya Hayes - Elizabeth BanksElizabeth BanksElizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...
as Emily Jones - Rachel WeiszRachel WeiszRachel Hannah Weisz born 7 March 1970)is an English-American film and theatre actress and former fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues...
as Summer Hartley - Kevin KlineKevin KlineKevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...
as Professor Hampton Roth - Derek LukeDerek LukeDerek Luke is an American actor. He won the Independent Spirit Award for his big-screen debut performance in the 2002 film Antwone Fisher, directed and produced by Denzel Washington.-Early life:...
as Russell T. McCormack - Adam FerraraAdam FerraraAdam Ferrara is an American actor and comedian who is currently playing the role of Chief "Needles" Nelson on the critically acclaimed FX series Rescue Me and is also a co-host on the U.S. version of Top Gear...
as Gareth - Annie ParisseAnnie ParisseAnne Marie Cancelmi , known as Annie Parisse, is an American television, film, and theater actress, known for playing Alexandra Borgia on the television drama Law & Order, a role she played from 2005 until 2006 in 33 episodes. Parisse is also known for her role of Julia Lindsey Snyder on the...
as Anne - Liane BalabanLiane BalabanLiane Balaban is a Canadian actress. Her film debut was in New Waterford Girl , playing Agnes-Marie "Moonie" Pottie, and has since appeared in the films Definitely, Maybe , Last Chance Harvey , and the independent drama One Week .-Early life:Balaban was born in North York, Ontario, the daughter of...
as Kelly - Nestor SerranoNestor SerranoNestor Serrano is an American film and television actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law.Serrano began his acting career in off-Broadway plays in the late 1970s. His first film was the 1986 Tom Hanks comedy The Money Pit...
as Arthur Robredo - Alexie GilmoreAlexie GilmoreAlexie Gilmore is an American actress who starred in the television series New Amsterdam as Dr. Sara Dillane. She is featured in the 2008 movie Definitely, Maybe and starred alongside Matthew McConaughey in the 2008 movie Surfer, Dude....
as Olivia - Kevin CorriganKevin CorriganKevin Fitzgerald Corrigan is an American actor who has appeared mostly in independent films and television since the 1990s.-Life and career:Corrigan was born in The Bronx, New York to an Irish-American father and a Puerto Rican mother...
as Simon
Critical
Definitely, Maybe received generally positive reviews from critics. As of June 20, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
certified it "fresh" with 73% of critics giving the film positive reviews, based on 102 reviews. The site also gave the consensus, "With a clever script and charismatic leads, Definitely, Maybe is a refreshing entry into the romantic comedy genre." Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported the film had an average score of 59 out of 100, based on 30 reviews.
Box office
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $9.7 million in 2,204 theaters in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, ranking #5 at the box office. As of September 28, 2008, the film has grossed $55,447,968 worldwide.
Score
The film was scoredFilm score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
by prolific English composer Clint Mansell
Clint Mansell
Clinton Darryl "Clint" Mansell, is an English musician, composer, and former lead singer and guitarist of the band Pop Will Eat Itself....
. Lakeshore Records
Lakeshore Records
Lakeshore Records is the independent music division of Lakeshore Entertainment . They started out as WILL Records.Will Records were started by Skip Williamson in the early 90s...
released the score on March 18, 2008. All Music Guide
All Music Guide
Allmusic is a service of music guide, owned by All Media Guide. Allmusic was founded in 1991 by popular-culture archivist Michael Erlewine as a guide for consumers. Its first reference book was published the following year...
review William Ruhlmann praised the album as filled with "sweet, melodic numbers that often seem to lack only a lyric to turn them into pop songs". He also stated that it functioned as "light accompaniment to an equally light entertainment."
DVD release
The film was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
June 24, 2008. The DVD featured a widescreen transfer, deleted scenes, two short featurettes, and a commentary track by the director Adam Brooks and lead actor Ryan Reynolds.