A much different film than I would expect, with its star packed cast, Maybe I Do is interesting. Just not in a new forever favorite kind of way.
Maybe I Do (2023) Film Review
Engaging in an affair no longer feels right to Howard (Richard Gere) as he sits in a lavish hotel room with the woman (Susan Sarandon) who has been his secret these many months. Instead, he grows nostalgic, and his conscience catches up with him. Lonely in a movie theater, Sam (William H. Macy) spends his nights seeing movies where he finds a brief but special companionship with a woman (Diane Keaton).
Elsewhere, Michelle (Emma Roberts) is ready for what’s next. She’s ready to make a more permanent commitment to Allen (Luke Bracey), the man she is madly in love with. He likes things as they are. He and Michelle live together and despite the marriages of their friends, he doesn’t find that necessary and instead sees this as a way to ruin what is them. But his unwillingness to let Michelle know that he’s all in just may be the undoing of them all.
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💍‘MAYBE I DO’: A FILM THAT EXPLAINS STORY LIKE A STAGE PLAY💍 #EmmaRoberts stars with #RichardGere (her aunt's former co-star!) in this 2023 dramedy. #Drama #Romance #DianeKeaton #LukeBracey #MaybeIDo Click To Tweet
It’s been a more recent trend of mine not to watch a trailer of a film I plan to see. At least not intentionally. Where I used to head to a video site to watch all the things, now I don’t. I find it more interesting or at the very least, less expectational, to go into something as “blindly” as possible. This is perhaps, funnily enough, what makes me dislike this more than I thought I would. The film, which I didn’t realize, is based on a play and written by the playwright.
As a result, Maybe I Do does stage or somehow “feel” like a play. Not that this is a bad thing, it’s just very different than what I assume. Beyond this, it’s sometimes hard to like some of these characters. Given they try to change and make strides towards being better people, it is easier to at least want to give them a chance. I also appreciate the way Michelle fights for what she wants and walks away in the understanding that the man she loves, and wants to do life with, doesn’t feel the same.
It’s Michelle I think I like best. She’s imperfect and I don’t always love every ounce of her logic, but I do love that she knows love and true commitment is more than what she has. It’s risk, yes, but it’s also choosing that person, loving them wholly and making a life within those choices you can both be proud of and happy in. In this way, I admire her persistence. While not something, same as with many films today, I will claim as a favorite, I did enjoy Maybe I Do. It’s one I could see myself re-watching again at some point.
You can see Maybe I Do, at publication, with Hulu
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Content: after telling him he cannot touch her, a woman places a man’s hands all over her (clothed) body in a scene that ends up being a cute little tease throughout the film. A man and woman make out with each other, using frosting as a kind of way to “up” the sensuality. Another scene has a woman straddling a man (both clothed) in bed. There are conversations about infidelity and its consequences, plus the idea that someone made a mistake in choosing who to marry. There is some profanity as well including an f-word.
Photos: Vertical Entertainment