Definitely, Maybe is a romantic comedy with a twist. Or maybe it’s a twisted romantic comedy. Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds), is a political consultant who is about to get divorced. He tries to explain the situation to his eight-year-old daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin). For complicated reasons she demands to know his entire romantic history.

Amazingly he agrees, but he changes the names so Maya won’t know which girl in the story is her mother. So we see the story unfold as a series of flashbacks, and it turns out to be pretty entertaining. It’s a story about smart but flawed people, which is naturally more interesting than the usual comedy about stupid people.

Still, the framework in somewhat disturbing. I had trouble accepting Abigail Breslin as an eight year old (she’s 11). Toward the end of the movie she behaves in a way that doesn’t seem believable either for age 8 or 11.

So you have to be prepared to treat this as a fantasy and suspend disbelief. (After all, I probably wouldn’t want to see a real eight year old attempt this part.)

And I guess as a fantasy it’s fine. But please folks, if you are in the middle of a divorce, DO NOT pick that moment to tell your kids the story of your marriage, even if they ask. There is no way that would lead to a happy ending it real life. More likely the consequences would be horrible.