3 ˝ stars
Smart, sophisticated and charming, "Definitely, Maybe" is wonderful dramedy about the choices we make about love.
The show is told almost entirely in flashback by Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds, "Smokin' Aces"), who opens the papers that, once signed, will make his divorce final. His daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine"), who is staying with him, asks him to tell her about her mother as ploy that, perhaps, he will consider reuniting with her.
At first, he refuses. Then he agrees to tell her the story of the women in his life, but under one condition: He will change their names, and Maya must guess which one turned out to be her mom.
He begins with the tale of his college sweetheart Emily (Elizabeth Banks, "Fred Claus"), who stays behind in Wisconsin when Will goes to work for Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign in New York. Just as Emily predicts, Will meets a new woman: Summer (Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"), who is a friend from Emily's past. Summer is involved with her thesis advisor (Kevin Kline), a prominent author, but sparks fly the moment the two meet.
Will also becomes friendly with April (Isla Fisher, "Wedding Crashers"), who is the "copy girl" for the Clinton campaign headquarters. The two have vastly different approaches to life, but they enjoy verbal sparring.
The enjoyable romantic mystery is interspersed with equally entertaining scenes of Maya and Will discussing the unfolding "bedtime story" and Maya's guesses about which woman could be her mother.
At first, I was taken aback by the way the movie begins. Apparently many screenwriters and audiences think it's funny to hear children spout names of private body parts. I don't %u2013 it's been done before and it's a cheap way to get a laugh. Once the screenplay gets past its first few minutes, it wises up ten-fold to deliver great wit.
And the movie is just fun to see. New York hasn't taken on this much of a romantic appearance since Joan Chen's "Autumn in New York." If the New York Chamber of Commerce isn't behind this film, it should be. The colors, the crowds, the stores%u2026everything that falls under the lens of screenwriter/director Adam Brooks' camera beckons the viewer to come have a closer look.
The acting is fine all around, especially among the female leads. Reynolds shows a depth he's never before displayed %u2013 most likely because the screenplay and dialogue are so clever. I hope he continues to sign on in more intelligent shows because his star deservedly is on the rise.
"Definitely, Maybe" is absolutely a film to see.
Running time: One hour and 50 minutes.
Rated: PG-13 for foul language, and sexual situations.
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Derek Luke, Kevin Kline
Director and screenwriter: Adam Brooks

2 stars
This is an average story of a young woman making it on her own.
No, I'm not talking about Mary Tyler Moore, I'm talking about Andi, played by Briana Evigan, in "Step Up 2 the Streets," a film that delivers just about what you'd expect.
Andie is a street performer in Baltimore who belongs to a dance called 4-1-0. The group performs some amazing moves. Andie undergoes a personal tragedy, and begins competing in underground dance "wars" referred to as "the streets."
She is threatened by a family friend who says she will send Andie away if she doesn't start to toe the line, so to speak. In the meantime, another friend, Missy (Danielle Polanco) has a dance-happy family that Andie also enjoys.
And then Channing Tatum, from the original "Step Up," steps in. He talks Andie into studying at the Maryland School for the Arts, where Andie makes the acquaintance of a rich guy, Chase (Robert Hoffman) and his dance-instructor brother (Will Kemp) who doesn't like urban dance. Eventually, Andie is removed from the troupe because she goes to school instead of a rehearsal. But Chase has an idea about how Andie can vent her creativity on the streets and still study dance seriously.
Evigan does a nice job of carrying this movie, which was released by some wise marketers on Valentine's Day %u2013 I imagine that thousands of young women dragged unwilling boyfriends to this show when they were given a chance to pick their "Valentine's movie." Evigan is a wonderful dancer, and so is her co-star Hoffman. They have a wonderful chemistry together when they're moving to the memorable soundtrack that includes numbers by such artists as Missy Elliott and T-Pain.
This isn't much in the way of a sequel. Only the presence of the dance school and Tatum give the movie a shaky connection to the first show.
In between dance sequences, the dialogue and character development are typical for this sort of project. You may find yourself wishing the picture moved a little faster in between the choreography.
There's a nice little nod to "Singing in the Rain" at the very end, which is uplifting and fun%u2026hey, it should be, because this is a dance movie.
Soon, it will be dancing its way out of the theater and on to DVD.
Running time: One hour and 37 minutes.
Rated: PG-13 for foul language, violence and sexual situations.
Stars: Briana Evigan, Robert Hoffman, Adam G. Sevani, Danielle Polanco, Mari Koda, Harry Shum Jr., Telisha Shaw, Black Thomas and Will Kemp.
Director: Jon Chu.
Screenwriters: Toni Ann Johnson and Karen Barna.