The set-up for this film is that a father is divorcing and his daughter, Maya, is asking him about how he met her mother. The guy then talks about a variety of women he dated and slept with as the child makes occasional commentary to interrupt the story. Some of her clever and charming remarks are calling one lady a B$%&@ and later, her father a slut. Later, when you learn which one of them is her mother, she announces that she 'just learned all about sexual intercourse in school'. Later, the child gives her now to be divorced father dating advice. Charming....NOT!

I did not like this film, though the acting was very, very nice. As a retired psychotherapist, I thought that the boundaries between the child (who seemed way too old for her years) and her father were blurred. The adult here was not him, that's for sure. Additionally, there are a lot of political elements in the film (because he's a political operative)--not a bad thing in a drama, but not exactly something I want to see in a romantic film. Nothing destroys romance like politics!!

Overall, I'd say 'nice try but no cigar'. This is a film that too flawed to be worth rushing out to see. It's strange father-daughter situation aside, the story just seemed way too with-it and hip in its parenting style for my tastes. To me, romance should be romantic...and this really wasn't. Additionally, the child seemed like a child as written by someone who's never even seen a child or talked with one!

The DVD for "Definitely, Maybe" starts off very badly--and this might only be with the Netflix version. It forces you to watch a LONG preview for "Mama Mia!"--whether you want to or not. I dunno about you, but this definitely makes me MUCH more inclined NEVER to watch a film they force you to preview...never.

Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) is an ad exec about to get divorced. After a particularly in depth discussion about sex in her school, he is harassed by his daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) to talk about her mother. He finally relents but explains he's going to change the names and some of the facts. It becomes a story of "How He Met Her Mother" as he recounts past girlfriends Emily (Elizabeth Banks),April (Isla Fisher),and Summer (Rachel Weisz).

It's a different kind of rom-com. There's the question of who the eventual girl in the equation is. The thing is all 3 ladies are absolutely charming actresses. So there isn't a bad choice in the bunch. It's more a cute device to keep interest in the story. Adam Brooks has written an unique rom-com. It also helps to have the charming Ryan Reynolds with the ever cute Abigail Breslin.

I recognised the title as being in the particular genre, I didn't know anything about the plot or story, but even though the critics gave it a low rating I was willing to give it a chance. Basically in New York City, ten year old Maya Hayes (Little Miss Sunshine's Abigail Breslin) and all her fellow school student classmates attended their first sex education class, and the little girl is now fascinated to know about her parents. Her father Will (Ryan Reynolds) is in the process of getting a divorce, and Maya is insisting on hearing the story of how he met her birth mother, and he decides to change a few of the names so he doesn't reveal too much of the truth. In flashback, we see that Will found himself falling for three women, and he is telling the story in a way that his daughter can guess which one he would most fall in love with and of course give birth. So in flashback he moved from Madison, Wisconsin to New York, and the three women who could potentially be Maya's mother are his college sweetheart "Emily" (Elizabeth Banks),her New York based friend "Summer Hartley" (Rachel Weisz),and the New York campaign office copy girl "April" (Isla Fisher). Throughout the film he obviously has the usual past struggles with work and a family matter or two, but of course he bumps into these three women time and time again, so you are unsure which one will be Maya's mother. After the story has ended, the final and happy conclusion for Maya is that April is his birth mother, and also the only character in the story not to have their name changed. She realises her father Will still loves April, so the end of the film sees them go to her house and try to win her back, Maya almost acting as bait, and it does work, but the real happy ending Will said was Maya herself. Also starring Kevin Kline as Hampton Roth, Derek Luke as Russell T. McCormack, Alexie Gilmore as Olivia and Annie Parisse as Anne. Reynolds is okay, out of the three female characters that could potentially be a mother I personally was hoping it would be Weisz, and Breslin is reasonably cute but a little annoying. This is meant to have moments to make you laugh, I didn't find myself doing that almost all the way through, I found this dull and boring, a silly romantic comedy. Adequate!