by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
B Rated PG-13 122 min.
The unwritten law of Hollywood: Valentine’s
Day requires a cutesy romantic comedy to satisfy all
the whining females harboring unrealistic fantasies
of Mr. Right. So, writer/director Adam Brooks cooked
up this pleasant little story of ad executive Will Hayes
(Ryan Reynolds) who is going through a divorce and
shares custody of his daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin).
Maya has just had her fi rst sex-ed class, but
is one savvy little girl. She is trying to understand
adult romance and, now that her father is back on
the market, how to help him fi nd his true love. She
is convinced her dad is miserable and is shocked to
learn that before he met her mother he had numerous
girlfriends. “What’s the boy word for slut?” she
asks him. Will’s relationship with his daughter is a
bond that infl uences his choice of potential romantic
partners.
Abigail Breslin is popping up in many different
projects as the latest A-list tween ingenue. In this
fi lm she is adorable and captures the imagination of
the viewers with her wide-eyed innocence, charm,
and talent. Reynolds is funny and appealing as the
newly divorced bachelor, who is not especially looking
for another committed relationship. Maya is like
a Jewish mother, meddling into Will’s love life with
abandon, as Will tells her the story of his romantic
chronology.
For Will, the present dating scene has changed
since he was last single. Flashbacks provide Will’s
history of dating in Madison, Wisconsin, where
he’s about to leave his college sweetheart Emily
(Elizabeth Banks) to go work for the 1992 Clinton
campaign. Of course the relationship is tested when
Will meets two other alluring women, one of whom
is Summer (Rachel Weisz), a friend of Emily’s. Then
there’s April (Isla Fisher), a free spirit who works at
Clinton’s campaign headquarters. But Will’s own
political ambitions were driving him at that stage of
his life.
This link with the past is set up as Will tells his
enthralled daughter of his past trysts and romances.
Brooks’ use of the Clinton era backdrop is a clever
device to develop Will’s character and paint Maya as
a precocious and very bright little girl. Since Maya
can’t fully understand the complexities of adult emotional
relationships, she oversimplifi es her conclusions
as to her father’s well being.
Brooks was obviously going for the arrowthrough-
the-heart formula to wrap up this clever
slant on romantic comedies in a neat little bow.
Still, the picture is appealing and funny. It hooks the
viewer on the concept of Maya and her dad bonding
over his romantic adventures. Brooks was going for
a Woody Allen-like uptown tone but it falls short of
Allen’s intellectual approach.
That darn little Abigail Breslin is so cute and
lovable, one can’t help but feel the positive vibes of
Brooks’ feel-good manipulation. Reynolds is remarkably
restrained from his past work. He plays this role
with low-key intelligence and consequently wins over
his audience. The female leads, Fisher and Weisz,
are developed as complex female characters with
many quirks that liven up the story. Kevin Kline has a
short but standout role as a best selling author and
womanizing professor of creative writing. It’s too
bad Brooks didn’t use this character more throughout
the story.
Yes, Hollywood gave us a Valentine movie that
at least avoids the blatant maudlin clichés, but it
goes for the heart and hanky. Just go with the fl ow
and you’ll enjoy this fi lm.
Article Published in the 2-14-08 Issue of EU Jacksonville
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