3. Will Hayes in Definitely, Maybe
Now here’s a leading man role that Reynolds knocked out of the park, which of course means that it got completely lost in the shuffle. Such a shame, as this film is one of the most enjoyable romantic comedies of recent years (possibly ever). In it, Reynolds’ Will is tasked by his daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) to tell the tale of how he met her mother, whom he recently divorced. In order to spare her some dirty details and to make it more bearable for himself, he decides to change the mother’s name, and have his daughter guess who she could be. Sure, it’s a only slight riff on the formula of How I Met Your Mother, but here it’s injected with a bit more subtlety, honesty and heart. Just as he did in Chaos Theory, (which interestingly enough debuted only a couple months later), Reynolds slides out of the more mean spirited snark that dominated his performances up until this point, and embraces his kinder, gentler side to great effect. We see a lot of different facets of Will throughout the peaks and valleys of his life. Watching him try to explain all of this to his daughter, we realize that he needed to hear this story more than she did, and that transition is masterfully brought across by both the performance and a sharp script. Reynolds’ fantastic chemistry with Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz and especially Isla Fisher only sweetens the deal, and ensures that this is one romantic comedy that is definitely worth checking out.
Advertisement
