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Thursday, November 25, 2010

Movie Review - Definitely Maybe


I realize this is my third movie review in a row but while writing the words about narration in "I hate love stories" I was reminded of this movie that I recently re-watched. And I can watch it again in a few days.

I won't do a full review of the movie as it's a simple love story but the most interesting thing about this movie is the organization of the material, the continuity. Or in this case, the narration device.

Story starts with this young girl about 10 years old, being picked up from school by her father. And guess what she learnt in school today...yes, you guessed it, about sex. She steers the conversation towards how her father and mother met. So, after a couple more scenes, he starts to tell her the story of his life. Only he changes the names of the girls in the story.

Mainly it's a story of the 3 girls who came in his life and one of them is his daughter's mother, which she has to guess. While he's telling the story, movie keeps moving in and out of flashback for the daughter to make a comment or raise a question. I like that because this little girl is just so cute...she's adorable! She's the oversmart, a 10 year-old-granny type girl and I just love those. I like how she wants her father to be happy. The father-daughter relationship has been portrayed beautifully. He's a single dad and his daughter wants his mother and father to be together.

The plot is quite good, it goes through some twists, some of which are predictable, but still treated well by the director.

The dialogues are smart and witty, not clichéd. My favourite dialogue from this movie would be a line spoken by (surprise!) the little girl, "Tell her story, like you told me, then she'll know!" Even if this weren't a plot-turning dialogue, I'd still love it. The eagerness in the little girl's face, her deep desire to set things right for her father...man, that's something to watch. I love it! Another one of my favourite is also by the same character, yeah, the little girl asks her father, looking right into his eyes, "What's the boy word for 'slut'?". Makes me laugh, every time.

Oh, did I mention is has Isla Fisher as one of the 3 main girls?! That was the whole reason I watched it the first time. I adore Isla Fisher, not just for her beauty but her personality. I have watched a couple of her TV interviews, damn, she's sexy and fun!

The hero is Ryan Reynolds, from "Two Guys a Girl and a Pizza Place" but who cares. No, seriously, he's done a good job.

So, my point is, that the narration device is so wrapped up in the story that it's not just a narration device but a part of the story and when the flashback finishes, this part of the movie continues and reaches the climax.

Since it's Hollywood, it's a happy ending, but it goes through some nice twists that make sense and are logical based on human psychology.

Conclusion: Definitely watch it, no maybe.

What do you know, I did write a full review.

P.S.:
1. The little girl is played by Abigail Breslin. She's an amazing actress.

2. Here's the trailer for this movie -



1 comment:

Definitely Maybe 2011 said...

I like love stories and Definitely Maybe is a simple love story. This movie has lots of twist and turns although you can predict some still you like them because of the direction. The movie smoothly follows a track which is best part. I recommend to watch this movie.