10 Years Later: Definitely Maybe

I like it.  It’s a love story mystery.

Maya Hayes

I saw Definitely Maybe on a date in high school.  I invited a girl I worked with to see it with me because I thought Definitely Maybe was the type of thing she would like.  Little did I know, the girl brought along three other couples that I had never met before.  It was our first and only date, and barely a date if I may say, but I still remember Definitely Maybe. 

If you watch Definitely Maybe (DM), you can’t help but notice the star power associated with the film.  Ryan Reynolds, Rachel Weisz, Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher and Kevin Kline were all stars at the time.  Weisz may have been at her all-time peak, coming off The Mummy series and an Oscar for The Constant Gardner.  Elizabeth Banks was just at the beginning of a breakout that would put her in supporting roles in The Hunger Games series and the Pitch Perfect franchise, the latter of which she directed an entry.  

The other thing you can’t help but notice is that Definitely Maybe is How I Met Your Mother in under two hours.  HIMYM came out three years earlier than DM, which makes me think that someone saw the success of the show and decided it could easily be a movie.  When Hollywood sees a story idea that is popular, they flock to make as many clones of it as they can.

DM came at an interesting time in Ryan Reynolds’ career.  A year after DM, Reynolds took his first crack at Deadpool in X-men Origins: Wolverine, another romantic comedy with Sandra Bullock in The Proposal and a small bit part in the indie favorite Adventureland.  Reynolds seemed to be trying all sorts of different roles to figure out what his career might be.

I don’t need to tell you that Ryan Reynolds is good looking.  I also don’t need to tell you that he does a great job with witty dialogue and playing a charming smart aleck.  His character in DM, Will Hayes, plays to all his strengths and Reynolds’ is perfect for the role.  In parallel universes where this movie is made three years later or earlier, we’re watching Gerard Butler or Hugh Grant butcher the movie.

DM is nothing without its supporting cast.  Reynolds’ three love interests, played respectively by Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weiz and Isla Fisher, are perfectly casted.  Each woman plays a unique character that has more depth than we usually see in romantic comedies.  There are moments in each movie where you would be happy if any of the girls were Reynolds’ daughter’s, a young Abagail Breslin, mother.

Rachel Weisz plays the strong-willed journalist who is always ready to have a back and forth with Reynolds.  She also gets some fun scenes with Kevin Kline, arguing over the merits of love and corrupt politicians like any high-society sophisticated New York writer would.

Fisher is the one who steals the show.  Two years previous to DM, she played the sex-crazed sister chasing after Vince Vaughn in Wedding Crashers.  It’s a hilarious role in a movie that I never stopped laughing at in the theater, but she isn’t the one you remember from the film.  In DM, she’s the nuanced female friend who you know belongs with the main character.  There are multiple points at the movie where you just want to yell at Fisher and Reynolds character to tell them they should just date already.

I quoted the line in the intro to the piece, but the “love story mystery” angle of the movie is what keeps DM fresh and intriguing.  Everyone has seen the guy trying to decide who the love of his life is, but it’s different to watch him tell the story to his daughter.  Hearing her yell at him for smoking or being a slut is a funny aside that sets it Definitely Maybe apart from the genre.

If you haven’t checked out Definitely Maybe, you should.  I’m not usually a fan of romantic comedies, but this film does it for even me.  And if you saw Definitely Maybe when it came out ten years ago, it’s on Netflix.  Throw it on and watch it again.  You won’t regret it.

On the Oscars

It’s been a troubling year for the film industry.  Typically around this time, we would all be arguing whether Gary Oldman as Churchill in makeup, an actor who is considered “due” for an Oscar, deserves to finally win over the possible last performance of the greatest modern actor, Daniel Day-Lewis.  Instead, there are much more important things afoot to talk about.  Terrible assaults and accusations have put a deserved black eye on Hollywood and some of its practices.  As this all comes to light and we learn more, we can only hope that much needed changes come.

My post below is a rapid reaction to Oscar Nominations based on what I’ve seen this year.  I have a few controversial opinions, which I’ll flesh out more as we get close to the ceremony.

Movies I’ve missed: Phantom Thread (sold out both times I went!), Call Me by Your Name (sold out once), Darkest Hour, Mudbound, Florida Project, I, Tonya.

Luckily I have a MoviePass subscription and Netflix, so I’ll hopefully see all of these before the show.

Best Picture: 

“Call Me by Your Name”
“Darkest Hour”
“Dunkirk”
“Get Out”
“Lady Bird”
“Phantom Thread”
“The Post”
“The Shape of Water”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

The big surprise here is “Darkest Hour”.  While many thought Oldman would be honored and is the odds-on-favorite to win Best Actor, nobody thought this would garner a best picture nomination.  “The Shape of Water”, leading the field with 13 nominations, “Lady Bird” and “Three Billboards” are considered the favorites in this category.  I’ve seen all three, and while “Three Billboards” has been labeled problematic, I can’t help but think about the performances Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell put forth.  Rockwell has been one of the actors I’ve watched for years and he deserves all the acknowledgment he is finally getting.

Lead Actor:                           

Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

This one is on me.  I’ve only see one of the movies here, “Get Out”.  I hope to rectify that before the Oscars, but I can’t help but thinking that Denzel Washington’s nomination is a shot across the bow to Franco and others who have had recent accusations (I haven’t seen Franco’s performance either).

Lead Actress:

Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Meryl Streep, “The Post”

Frances McDormand is amazing as a grieving mother who decides to make a stand.  She’s a strong, flawed female lead in a movie full of characters you can sometimes understand, but usually don’t like (Dinklage and Hedges excepted).  Saoirse Ronan does a superb job with a role that could easily become generic under a lesser performance and a small part of me wouldn’t be surprised to see her take this home.

I guess now would be the time to reveal that I don’t have much love for “Shape of Water”.  While Sally Hawkins does a hell of a lot without saying a single word, I just couldn’t get behind this movie.  Del Toro knows how to make a visually stunning movie with amazing production design on a budget (he apparently shot most of the movie with the crew of the Strain and used their sets), but the film doesn’t say much that he hasn’t already said.

Supporting Actor:

Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”
Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

I’ve already sung my praises for Rockwell, but Harrelson is great as well in a limited role.  Despite my indifference to “Shape of Water”, Jenkins gives a nuanced performance as a gay man struggling with loneliness and being himself in a time that isn’t accepted.  He won’t win, but he deserves real consideration.

I have not seen “Florida Project”, which I am looking forward to, nor “All the Money in the World”.  Many have said that Plummer’s nomination is in praise of the man, not the work, and that Arnie Hammer was robbed out of the final spot.

Supporting Actress:

Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”
Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

This is a two-horse race between Janney and Metcalf.  “I,Tonya”, also sold out when I went to see it, has picked up steam and could easily take down this award.  For what it’s worth, Spencer does good work in her role as the rational voice of the audience in “Shape of Water”.

Director:

“Dunkirk,” Christopher Nolan
“Get Out,” Jordan Peele
“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig
“Phantom Thread,” Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro

My first real problem with the nominations.  Martin McDonagh, already nominated for original screenplay with “Three Billboards”, is cheated here.  Personally, I would take del Toro out of the race here, but he’s probably going to win the award.  I liked “Get Out” and as a horror/thriller fan, am happy to see something get recognition here, but I would rather see McDonagh for Three Billboards.