David R. Walker

Maybe I Do

Director: Michael Jacobs

Cast: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Diane Keaton, Luke Bracey, William H. Macy, Emma Roberts

Running Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Film Rating: 6 out of 10

The tricky part about converting a theatrical play into a film, is whether the film adaptation will work and appeal to audiences. The acting has to be brilliant and the theatricality of the play has to be modified for a cinematic aesthetic.

Playwright turned screenwriter and director Michael Jacobs film Maybe I Do has a hugely talented cast including Oscar winners Diane Keaton (Annie Hall) and Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking) along with Richard Gere whom Keaton reteams with after the 1977 film Looking for Mr Goodbar along with Oscar Nominee William H. Macy (Fargo) and the young lovers of the play, Michelle and Alan played respectively by Emma Roberts (Billionaire Boys Club) and Luke Bracey (Elvis, Point Break, Hacksaw Ridge).

Maybe I Do focuses on the budding relationship of Michelle and Alan as they decide whether to move onto the next phase of their lives: marriage.

However as they discuss the big leap forward, they decide that their parents should meet each other. Unbeknownst to the young lovers, their parents particularly Alan’s mother Monica, a vampish Susan Sarandon and Michelle’s father Howard played by Gere are having an affair. Simultaneously, quite by accident’s Alan’s father Sam wonderfully played by William H. Macy unknowingly meets Michelle’s mother Grace played by Diane Keaton in a movie theatre.

Unfortunately for Michael Jacobs his script is not brilliant and in a film which is primarily based on dialogue between characters, the actors are left adrift in an environment which is contrived and unconvincing and the actors are playing parts which they are not emotionally invested it. This play is set in New York, it should have been so much better.

Besides a couple of great moments between Gere and Sarandon, the rest of Maybe I Do fails partially due to the bad title and also the plot which is both unconvincing and unsophisticated. The story needed some naughty siblings to spice it up.

Unlike such brilliant films as Mike Nicol’s Closer or more recently Florian Zeller’s The Father, Maybe I Do is definitely not in that league. This is a very light romantic comedy, with some serious moments that fall flat.

For those that enjoy light but unchallenging adult comedy which tightly fits into a 90 minute running time, then catch Maybe I Do in cinemas. Maybe I Do gets a film rating of 6 out of 10, it’s fun but could have been so much better considering the calibre of talent involved.

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