History Main / DefinitelyMaybe

* The 1994 Music/{{Oasis}} album ''Definitely Maybe''

* The 1994 {{Oasis}} album ''Definitely Maybe''

DefinitelyMaybe may refer to:

A 2008 RomanticComedy written and directed by Adam Brooks, and starring RyanReynolds, ElizabethBanks, IslaFisher, and RachelWeisz. Reynolds plays Will Hayes, a divorced 38 year old father. His 10 year old daughter Maya (AbigailBreslin), lives with her mother but visits him twice a week. On one of these visits, after her first sex education class at school, Maya asks him to recount the story of how he and her mother met, and though initially reluctant to do so, he eventually relents and agrees to tell her the story, on the condition that he be allowed to change the names and some of the facts. The rest of the movie consists of flashbacks to Will's single life, and his relationships with three different women, his college fiancee Emily (Banks), his coworker April (Fisher), and magazine writer Summer (Weisz), intercut by occasional questions and commentary from Maya in the present. It is left to Maya (and the audience) to try and figure out which of the three Will ended up with, and thus which of the three is Maya's mother.

The story begins in 1992 when Will, having just graduated college as an idealistic young aspiring politician, moves from Wisconsin to New York City to work for BillClinton's presidential campaign along with his best friend Russell (Derek Luke). The initial plan is for Emily to join him after a few months, at which time he intends to propose, but things don't go according to plan and Will ends up going through several relationships and years of of romantic highs and lows before he finally meets the woman he eventually marries.

The movie received positive reviews from critics, who noted its realistic portrayal of modern relationships and nuanced characters; unlike in most romantic comedies, there's no clear "good" or "bad" love interest, and whom to root for is left up to the audience.

Not to be confused with the 1994 {{Oasis}} album of the same name.
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!! This film contains examples of the following tropes:

* BigApplesauce: Though Will is from Wisconsin, almost the entire movie takes place in New York.
* BillClinton: The movie begins with Will volunteering for Clinton's 1992 campaign.
* BlackBestFriend: Russell, though his race isn't particularly emphasized.
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: There's one of each among the primary love interests - blonde (Emily), brunette (Summer), and redhead (April).
* BoyMeetsGirl: Averted: more realistically, it's boy meets one girl, then another, and then another, and tries (unsuccessfully) to find lasting love with each of them in turn.
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: [[spoiler:Emily thinks Will would be better off not tying himself down at a young age, and refuses his marriage proposal. When he insists, she informs him that she cheated on him, and it's suggested she did so to make breaking up with him easier.]]
* CheerfulChild: Maya is ''very'' cheerful and understanding for a 10 year old, despite the fact that her father tells her some rather sordid and unhappy details about his past life.
* ComicRolePlay: Will practices his proposal speech with April standing in for Emily. The speech:
---> Will: "Will you, um, marry me?"
* DisposableFiance: Subverted.
* DrowningMySorrows: Will starts to drink heavily after finding out that April is dating a new guy at one point.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: After Will has been divorced by Sarah (Emily), it's suggested at the end that he may get together with April, after much heartache and years of not even speaking to each other.]]
* EurekaMoment: Maya, when she figures out that [[spoiler:[[strike:Emily]] Sarah is her mother]].
* FirstFatherWins
* FirstGirlWins: [[spoiler:Maya's mother ends up being Emily, with whom Will once again gets together after years apart. Subverted in that the two are now divorced.]]
* GirlOnGirlIsHot: At one point Will and Russell discuss this after coming across a description of a lesbian kiss in Emily's diary.
* GreyAndGreyMorality: Unlike in most romantic comedies, none of the characters is entirely saintly or entirely psychotic in their relationships - they're all flawed but well-meaning people trying to figure out what's best for themselves.
* HappilyEverAfter: Subverted. One of the first things the audience learns is that Will is being divorced by the woman he married.
* HeroesWantRedheads: Will seems to prefer April to the other two.
* HotScoop: Summer, played by RachelWeisz.
* HowWeGotHere: The framing device of the movie.
* InMediasRes: Sort of. The movie is a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] of the typical romantic comedy plotline in that there is no neat resolution to Will's pursuit of love at the end.
* IntrepidReporter: Summer.
* KavorkaMan: Summer's journalism professor, Hampton Roth, who despite being nearly sixty is quite popular with female graduate students.
* LastGirlWins: [[spoiler:It's implied Will may in the end get together with April, the last of the three he met, though given their past the relationship is by no means a sure thing.]]
* LongDistanceRelationship: Will and Emily, initially.
* LoveHurts: At times.
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: April, sorta, though it's strongly and repeatedly subverted. Summer also has elements of the character type.
* MeetCute: Averted with Emily (with whom Will is already in a relationship at the beginning of the story) and Summer (with whom he's set up). Subverted with April - Will meets her in a typical MeetCute fashion, but the two don't become romantically involved until MUCH later.
* MementoMacGuffin: April is searching for a copy of ''JaneEyre'' that was given to her by her late father shortly before he died, which plays a rather important role in the plot.
* NoEnding: [[spoiler:At the end of the movie, Will finally gets together with April. Or maybe not. It's definitely implied that they reconcile as friends, but beyond that, it's left ambiguous.]]
* OfficialCouple: Soundly averted.
* TheReveal: Eventually, the viewer finds out which of the three women Will married.
* RomanticComedy: Though it subverts or deconstructs most of the typical tropes.
* RomanticFalseLead: There are several characters who would fit this role in a conventional romantic comedy, but it's consistently subverted as there is no OfficialCouple and they are generally (and realistically) just portrayed as other fish in the dating pool, not as obstacles to true love.
* SleazyPolitician: Will's first major client, Arthur Robredo, a candidate to be governor of New York. Will also ends up feeling this way about BillClinton.
* TitleDrop: April pretends to be Emily to help Will rehearse his proposal speech at one point - it's her reply when he asks her to marry him.
* TriangRelations: A couple different variations occur between different characters at different points.
* TruthInTelevision: The movie received much praise for its realistic portrayal of modern relationships.
* TyingUpRomanticLooseEnds: Either subverted or averted entirely, depending on the character.
* {{UST}}: Mostly between Will and April, the only one of the three with whom Will doesn't have a romantic relationship at some point.
* WideEyedIdealist: Will is at first, about both love and politics.
* YourCheatingHeart: Precipitates one of Will's breakups at one point.

* LastGirlWins: [[spoiler:It's implied Will may finally get together with April, the last of the three he met, in the end, though given their past the relationship is by no means a sure thing.]]

* MeetCute: Averted with Emily (whom Will is already in a relationship with at the beginning of the movie) and Summer (with whom he's set up). Subverted with April - Will meets her in a typical MeetCute fashion, but the two don't become romantically involved until MUCH later.

* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: [[spoiler:Emily cheats on Will before refusing his marriage proposal because she thinks he'll be better off not tying himself down at a young age, partially, it's suggested, as a way to make breaking up with him easier.]]

The story begins in 1992 when Will, having just graduated college as an idealistic young aspiring politician, moves from Wisconsin to New York City to work for Bill Clinton's Presidential Campaign along with his best friend Russell (Derek Luke). The initial plan is for Emily to join him after a few months, at which time he intends to propose, but things don't go according to plan and Will ends up going through several relationships and years of of romantic highs and lows before he finally meets the woman he eventually marries.

A 2008 RomanticComedy written and directed by Adam Brooks, and starring Ryan Reynolds, Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher, and RachelWeisz. Reynolds plays Will Hayes, a divorced 38 year old father. His 10 year old daughter Maya (AbigailBreslin), lives with her mother but visits him twice a week. On one of these visits, after her first sex education class at school, Maya asks him to recount the story of how he and her mother met, and though initially reluctant to do so, he eventually relents and agrees to tell her the story, on the condition that he be allowed to change the names and some of the facts. The rest of the movie consists of flashbacks to Will's single life, and his relationships with three different women, his college fiancee Emily (Banks), his coworker April (Fisher), and magazine writer Summer (Weisz), intercut by occasional questions and commentary from Maya in the present. It is left to Maya (and the audience) to try and figure out which of the three Will ended up with, and thus which of the three is Maya's mother.

A 2008 RomanticComedy written and directed by Adam Brooks, and starring Ryan Reynolds, Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher, and Rachel Weisz. Reynolds plays Will Hayes, a divorced 38 year old father. His 10 year old daughter Maya (AbigailBreslin), lives with her mother but visits him twice a week. On one of these visits, after her first sex education class at school, Maya asks him to recount the story of how he and her mother met, and though initially reluctant to do so, he eventually relents and agrees to tell her the story, on the condition that he be allowed to change the names and some of the facts. The rest of the movie consists of flashbacks to Will's single life, and his relationships with three different women, his college fiancee Emily (Banks), his coworker April (Fisher), and magazine writer Summer (Weisz), intercut by occasional questions and commentary from Maya in the present. It is left to Maya (and the audience) to try and figure out which of the three Will ended up with, and thus which of the three is Maya's mother.

A 2008 RomanticComedy written and directed by Adam Brooks, and starring Ryan Reynolds, Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher, and Rachel Weisz. Reynolds plays Will Hayes, a divorced 38 year old father. His 10 year old daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin), lives with her mother but visits him twice a week. On one of these visits, after her first sex education class at school, Maya asks him to recount the story of how he and her mother met, and though initially reluctant to do so, he eventually relents and agrees to tell her the story, on the condition that he be allowed to change the names and some of the facts. The rest of the movie consists of flashbacks to Will's single life, and his relationships with three different women, his college fiancee Emily (Banks), his coworker April (Fisher), and magazine writer Summer (Weisz), intercut by occasional questions and commentary from Maya in the present. It is left to Maya (and the audience) to try and figure out which of the three Will ended up with, and thus which of the three is Maya's mother.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: Two, when Will finds her father's book for April (though he keeps it for years) and when Will reveals to Maya that he doesn't regret his failed marriage because she resulted from it.

* {{Squick}}: [[YourMileageMayVary For some]]; some of Will's revelations struck some viewers as rather inappropriate things for a man to tell his ten-year old daughter.

* YourMileageMayVary: Each of the love interests has good and bad points, so it's up to the viewer to decide whether Will ends up with the right woman at the end.

* ThePaolo: There are several characters who would fit this role in a conventional romantic comedy, but it's consistently subverted as there is no OfficialCouple and they are generally (and realistically) just portrayed as other fish in the dating pool, not as obstacles to true love.

* MementoMacGuffin: April is searching for a copy of JaneEyre that was given to her by her late father shortly before he died, which plays a rather important role in the plot.

---> "Will you, um, marry me?"

* ComicRolePlay
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: Two, when Will finds her father's book for April (though he keeps it for years) and when Will reveals to Maya that he didn't regret his marriage because she resulted from it.