Hey Mori, Harry, etc. Bungion Boy here in New York. This afternoon I caught an early screening of the romantic comedy(?) “Definitely, Maybe.” Not that I think there’s anyone on this site that cares about this film, I still thought I’d say a few words about it. This is being released on Valentine’s Day next year so that should give you an idea as to what kind of film this is. It stars Ryan Reynolds as a man about to sign divorce papers with his wife. But before he can do so, his adorable(?) daughter, (Abigail Breslin), asks to hear the story of how he and her mom met. He accepts, but with a twist! He’ll tell the story of his courtship involving three women, but will change all the names so she will have to figure out for herself which woman ended up as his wife. This is the kind of thing that nobody would ever do unless they were the subject of a movie. The three women involved in the film are his college girlfriend (Elizabeth Banks), a somewhat mysterious friend of hers (Rachel Weisz), and the quirky slacker copy girl (Isla Fisher). If my brief description doesn’t clue you in as to who he ends up with, then you’ll figure it out as soon as you meet the characters in the film. If you’ve seen a movie like this before, then you’ll recognize all the signs. But remember, he ends up divorcing the one he marries, so this film gets the satisfaction of fixing the hero up with two of the three women. And that’s all this movie is really good for. This is about a nice guy, with hardly any flaws, who falls in love. The shot of the climactic, passionate kiss is like crack for women, and you get plenty of those kind of shots in this film. The tired guessing game of the identity of the mystery woman feels cheap and unnatural. It’s kind of too bad. The story in the film isn’t completely terrible. It might have made for an ok movie but the framing device takes away any real drama that might have been. Scenes will play fairly well but then will be countered with our knowledge that they only exist to trick us into thinking something, as opposed to actually tell a story. The moments when Breslin stops the action to ask a question play like an irritating version of “The Princess Bride.” She’s not funny but is always saying stupid lines just to get attention, both as a character and an actress. She says some of the most unnatural lines I’ve ever heard come out of a child’s mouth onscreen. Some of the other performances are better. All three women are pretty good. They were all intelligent characters who felt realistic. Weisz comes off best, and it was nice to see Fisher as a real person. There are no pratfalls, embarrassing situations, bets about sleeping with a girl, and no mad dashes to airports. That’s refreshing but what’s left is pretty dull. The story of bouncing between several different women reminded me of “High Fidelity,” but that film was so much more natural, and the lead character had a distinct personality that changed and matured (at least a little) over time. I think Reynolds has a lot of untapped talent, (I really liked him in “The Nines), but in this he just plays straight man to other straight women. The subplot involving him working on the Clinton campaign provides no insight into the democratic process and merely exists to make a few Lewinsky jokes. Also wasted is Kevin Kline in a small role as Weisz’s ex lover who keeps popping up. I think he’s supposed to be the old man giving sage-like advise but he’s just a colorful drunk. His pivotal scene features him alone with Weisz, which made me wonder how Reynolds knew about it to include it in his story. Actually, there are a lot of scenes like that in this film. You could do worse than this next Valentine’s Day, but you could do a lot better. It’s bland and not the least bit funny. After seeing it, I immediately went to the Ziegfeld to see “Blade Runner” and get the bad taste out of my mouth. After sitting through that, I forgot most everything about “Definitely, Maybe.” I feel that it will be a not uncommon reaction. “Dan in Real Life,” is another romantic dramedy with the central question of “will they or won’t they?” However this wonderful little film by Peter Hedges, (“Pieces of April,” “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”) is infinitely better. I had heard surprisingly little buzz about this over the last few months so I went in with low expectations and was completely won over by this film. The story could be summed up in any number of clichéd poster taglines: “Dan is an advice columnist who can solve everyone’s problems… except his own.” “Dan has finally found the perfect woman… his brother’s girlfriend.” Fortunately, Hedges takes these familiar ideas and cuts out all the forced laughs, misunderstanding, and treacle and makes this all a story about, above all other things, family. Like I said, the story is simple. Dan Burns, played by Steve Carell, is a widower and father of three daughters. At a family reunion over a long weekend, he meets a woman who he instantly connects with, played by Juliet Binoche. It isn’t until after he spends a morning with her and proudly tells his family that he met someone that he discovers that she is dating his brother, a shockingly understated and effective Dane Cook. The family dynamic reminded me a lot of films like “Parenthood.” The Burns family clearly loves each other and are all very close. They do a lot of activities, such as group crossword puzzles, talent competitions, and group aerobics. These might have been used for comic set pieces in another film but here they feel authentic, like they’ve been acting this way together for years. There are no real jokes in these scenes. We’re just watching them interact. None of the family members have specific eccentricities, such as “the crazy brother,” “the doting mother,” or “the uptight sister.” They all feel like real people and are played beautifully by a fantastic cast that includes John Mahoney, Diane Wiest, Amy Ryan, Jessica Hecht, and the terrific New York actors Norbert Leo Butz (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and wonderful rising star Alison Pill (“The Lieutenant of Inishmore,” “Blackbird.) There’s also a nice bit part played by Emily Blunt as a beautiful girl with just as many issues as Dan. The poster image of Carell crying on a stack of pancakes had me worried, especially only a year after playing another sad sack in “Little Miss Sunshine.” However, this may be his best film performance to date. Clearly sad and depressed, Carell still adds so much to the character of Dan, playing him as a man who can easily stamp a smile on his face and appear funny and happy when it’s clear that he is on the verge of tears. Binoche never struck me as the kind of woman who would be attracted to Carell or Cook, but here plays a wonderfully cool woman who you totally understand every time she makes a decision that furthers the plot. This film didn’t make me want to rush out and see “Good Luck Chuck,” but it’s nice to see that Cook can be directed to ignore his own personality that can sometimes get a little irritating for long stretches of time. There are some plot developments at the end of the film that I thought weren’t completely necessary, but none so offending that the ruined the film. There are also several scenes that when described would sound formulaic and mainstream, but here are played realistically and are believable. In particular, there’s a scene involving a shower and a comical misunderstanding that could have been a complete disaster in a film like “The Heartbreak Kid,” but here I found myself laughing and letting a few things slide when at another film I might have rolled my eyes. This film really surprised me. It’s very slight and simple and those are both things in its favor. Even with films I love, I rarely wish that a film were longer, but I actually wanted to spend more than 95 minutes with these characters. The house is so full that some of the family members only get a couple lines, but you can always feel their warm presence in the atmosphere. This could be a sleeper hit this fall and probably deserves to be. It’s not the kind of comedy that will have you constantly laughing out loud, but I almost always found myself smiling. -Bungion Boy
