With his script for the very good new romantic comedy Definitely, Maybe, Adam Brooks does something incredibly difficult and makes it look effortless - he doesn't fall into the traps of his genre. For most of the running time of Definitely, Maybe, the dialogue feels real, the characters and their actions are relatable, and, almost miraculously, you don't feel manipulated by the typical heart-string pulling of the genre. He does what has been so often missing from this genre - he tells a story that you can believe. The romantic comedy has become such a wasteland of physical humor, predictable plots, and nauseating manipulation that Definitely, Maybe is more remarkable for what it doesn't do. What it does do is prove that Ryan Reynolds can be a star and that there's still life in a genre that has been on the ropes the last few years.

Definitely, Maybe feels most inspired by the work of Cameron Crowe (Say Anything, Jerry Maguire) in that it's the characters that drive the script, not the contrivances. Admittedly, Crowe would probably avoid the set-up of Definitely, but it's a framing device that becomes remarkably effective once you get over the cheesiness of it all. The set up is that Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) is divorcing his wife and his daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin) wants a little more personal history before this monumentous event in both of their lives. So, Will tells Maya the true story of the three women he's loved in his life, knowing that one of them is Maya's mother, and changes the names. It's kind of like "How I Met Your Mother: The Movie". Is Maya's mother Emily (Elizabeth Banks), the hometown sweetheart who Will left behind in Madison to move to New York and become a political consultant? Or is she Summer (Rachel Weisz), the sexy, brainy type who really loves the much older professor and famous author, Hampton (Kevin Kline)? Could it be April (Isla Fisher), the girl who is the least like Will but may be the best thing for him?

For at least three-quarters of its running time, Definitely, Maybe is charming and so light-on-its-feet that people will take how good it is for granted. Reynolds is more charismatic and less forced than he's ever been and the casting director deserves an award for assembling a perfect supporting team. Banks is a little wasted in the smallest role but Weisz has never been sexier and this is a breakthrough performance for Fisher, who has been good before but is great here. It's the kind of turn like Cameron Diaz' in There's Something About Mary or Katherine Heigl in Knocked Up that should turn her into a star. It doesn't hurt that she has perfect chemistry with Reynolds. Finally, it seems more apparent with every film that Abigail Breslin has the most potential of her generation to follow in the rare footsteps of someone like Jodie Foster and be a great child star who turns into a great actress.

Definitely, Maybe only falls apart in the final act when Brooks makes the mistake of getting a little too on-the-nose manipulative with the "happy ending" to his story and Reynolds even starts to fall back on a few crutches like that "aren't I cute" lost puppy look he sometimes employs. It doesn't help that Definitely, Maybe stretches itself out to nearly two hours, which is at least 10 minutes (and more likely 20 minutes) longer than it should have been. If Brooks could have trimmed the film down to a leaner form and avoided a trap or two of the genre in his final act, Definitely, Maybe could have stood up against any recent romantic comedy. Now it just stands up against 90% of them.

People often tell me that romantic comedies are critic-proof. No matter how many times movies like 27 Dresses, Over Her Dead Body, or Fool's Gold get critically slammed, people still go and see them. But, you know what? Those movies don't last. They're flings. They might be kind of fun while you're in them, but they aren't the kind of relationship you tell your kids about. It's the great romantic comedies - Annie Hall, When Harry Met Sally, Jerry Maguire, etc. - that are handed down from couple to couple and generation to generation. Definitely, Maybe may just barely miss inclusion in that category but it's a near-miss and proof that writer/director Adam Brooks could definitely be the next great romantic comedy master. He's just in time.