'Definitely, Maybe' (PG-13)(out of four)

There's something refreshingly realistic about "Definitely, Maybe," something honest in its not-quite-ideal depiction of love, which hooked me early and never stopped reeling me in. And while I could easily see all the stitching holding this fabric together, and easily recognize all the contrived twists and turns that went into building this romantic roller coaster, there was nevertheless something disarming about its pragmatic sense of optimism.

Love, like life, has a lot of ups and downs, and director Adam Brooks never once seems afraid to see both ends of spectrum. Not everything in our day-to-day life builds to a momentous embrace or a passionate speech. Sometimes love just drifts idly by in the night, and sometimes dreams are born - and hopes are dashed - without much fuss or fanfare.

And every once in a while, we get our fairy-tale moment.

That subdued brand of optimism isn't often found in modern romantic comedies, which often skew silly. Yet from the outset, we know precisely how the central romance of "Definitely, Maybe" will end, as Will (Ryan Reynolds) begins the movie talking with his daughter Maya (Abigail Beslin) about divorcing his wife.

Seeing this love fall apart, Maya asks her dad to tell her the story of how he first came to love her mom. In a conventional romance, the story would be simple: high school sweetheart becomes lifelong partner. But instead, as Will looks back to the early 1990s, when he first left his college sweetheart in the Midwest to head out to New York City and volunteer for the presidential campaign of Bill Clinton, we see the ways in which life can throw a monkey wrench into our best laid plans.

Will's long-distance relationship doesn't quite work out, and then Will finds himself attracted instead to one of his ex's classmates, Summer (Rachel Weisz), an academic who is already in love with another man. Flash forward a few years, and Will and Summer reconnect. Her situation's changed, his feelings are the same, and they plunge headfirst into a relationship. But through the months and years, Will simply can't get the memories of April (Isla Fisher) out of his head -- a fellow campaign worker from the days of Clinton, who one night he kissed briefly.

Again and again Will and April cross paths. She's interested, but he's involved, then he's interested and she's nowhere to be found. As dad tries to explain this romantic back and forth to his daughter, she treats the story like a gambler would a horse race, picking sides and placing her bets. But while Maya keeps looking for that magic moment, Will seems able to only shrug his shoulders. There's more to "Definitely, Maybe" than the giddy notion of love-at-first-sight; in Will's turbulent life story, we witness the way romance can be forced aside by such things as emotional confusion, sexual angst and even bad timing.

It's so refreshing to encounter a movie that sees love in this way - not cynically, but logically. In a touching performance that may prove to be Reynolds' ticket out of the world of gross-out comedies, he helps us to embrace a character that is at once both sweet but selfish, depressed when heartache leaves him reeling, but hopeful that this divorce might not be the end of his heart's journey.

Pop in a DVD of a Ben Affleck or Meg Ryan romance, and you'll likely see love depicted as a lightning strike, as something supernatural that sweeps us off our feet and never lets us go. What's memorable, and even inspiring, about Will's story is that he does not see love as an explosion or even as a sprint -- but as a marathon. He tries to enjoy the surges while staying afloat through the downpours, and unlike so many suave movie hunks, doesn't just get what he wants. He has to earn it.