Absolutely, For Sure

It's been months since I saw Definitely, Maybe. I knew I'd blog about it eventually, but it's taken me all this time to really articulate why I think it's a strong, fresh romantic comedy.

I thought -- is it because I like all 4 of the leads? Ryan Reynolds has grown on me a lot, but the real gems of the film are the women: Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz, and Isla Fisher? Great choices.

Then I thought, hmm, maybe it's all the wonderful grounding details in the story. Example: we spend part of the time in the '90s, while Ryan works on Clinton's presidential campaign. Hadn't seen that before, and yet it felt like a character detail rather than a hey-we're-travelling-in-time gimmick.

But no. I've realized what it is.

This is a romantic comedy structured around a mystery.

The premise: A single dad tells his young daughter about the 3 great loves of his life, and lets his daughter guess which one turned out to be her mother.

While I'm following these love stories -- all with their own nuances and complications -- I'm also, like the daughter, trying to put together the pieces of this puzzle. And I confess, I wasn't totally sure right up until the big reveal.

And the story doesn't even end with that reveal... that'd be too easy.

The fact is, this is where most romantic comedies fail. When non-rom-com-lovers refer to the genre, it's as "formulaic" and "predictable". This is because the central plot question is so often "Will this couple get/stay together?". It's almost always a gimme... of course they will!

Definitely, Maybe opts instead for a central question with real suspense. Which woman is mom?

How can any of us go back to the conventional faux-structure, now that we've seen this?

The Drama Before the Drama

Rewatching Cloverfield, I was struck again by how tight a movie it really is. Come on, people... if you don't think this movie works on a monster/disaster level, I don't know what.

But here's a simple lesson that's a great reminder for our own work: before the "problem of the movie" kicks in, the characters already have problems! In Cloverfield, our gang of partiers is celebrating Rob's big promotion... while Rob is pining for Beth, the girl who's about to be the "one who got away". For the first twenty minutes of the movie, that's what Rob cares about -- Beth is seeing someone else, because he never called her after their perfect day together. It's also what pretty much everyone else at the party is interested in too. 'Cause you know what? Who's-sleeping-with-whom is what life's all about.

Characters are supposed to be people. People always have drama in their lives. The things they care about may seem small when a giant monster attacks New York City... but until then, life isn't just jello shots and singalongs. Minor dramatic conflict goes a long way in helping establish the characters and what drives them, while keeping the tension up until the real stuff gets going. Even Luke Skywalker whined about wanting to go get power converters, if only his aunt and uncle weren't such sticks-in-the-mud.

Of course, in Cloverfield's case, the minor (romantic) drama is pretty much the major throughline of the film. The central question of the story is less "Will they survive?" and more "Will Rob get to Beth in time to tell her how he feels?"

So there it is. Have your characters sweat the small stuff until the big stuff comes along. You can't go wrong.