Two and 1/2 stars

Oral histories aren't limited to cultures. They are the foundations for family life as well.

All parents must at some point relate "how Mommy and Daddy met" or explain where little Johnny or Suzie came from.

It is circumstances such as these that serve as the starting point for Adam Brooks' romantic comedy, "Definitely, Maybe."

Ryan Reynolds plays Will Hayes, a 30-something Manhattanite who is in the final throes of a somewhat amicable divorce.

In coming to the end of this relationship, Will's inquisitive 10-year-old daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin), presses him to explain to her the beginnings of Will's relationship with her mother.

Being in a reflective frame of mind, Will acquiesces, only on the condition that he can change the names of those involved to preserve the innocence of his daughter and to allow himself a bit of artistic license.

So begins Will's tale of his past life and the women who so richly colored it.

First, there was Emily (Elizabeth Banks), Will's blonde-haired, blue-eyed college sweetheart at University of Wisconsin, whom he'd always wanted to marry. However, when an opportunity to work as a New York City staffer for Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign comes calling, Will leaves Emily for the bright lights of the big city, promising he'll be back.

Unfortunately, upon his arrival in New York, Will is quickly introduced to the bottom rungs of the career ladder. But being young and idealistic, Will makes the most of it, running errands and performing menial tasks, all the while waiting for an opportunity to show his true worth to the campaign.

At the same time, Will meets and befriends April (Isla Fisher), a copy girl working in the office, who possesses a wry, urbane pragmatism and a ready wit. She also has a hobby of collecting editions of "Jane Eyre" and a fondness for Kurt Cobain.

At the same time, too, he meets Summer (Rachel Weisz), one of Emily's former classmates. Summer is something of a free-spirited journalism major who's intimately involved with her college professor (Kevin Kline).

As Will's story unfolds, Brooks gently contrasts how all three women come in and out of his life in ways that leave Maya and the audience off-balance as to who Will eventually settles down with.

Thus, "Definitely, Maybe's" greatest attribute is its characters. Writer-director Brooks does a wonderful job of creating real people trying to figure out the complications of living real life.

In Reynolds, Brooks has found a believable and likable leading man who audiences can relate to. Reynolds' easygoing manner belies his character's inner confusion about life and women.

Similarly, the film's actresses are all great, perhaps none moreso than Fisher, who injects her character with a playfulness, intelligence and evolving maturity that gives greater depth to April than one might initially think.

Yet if there is one character who doesn't quite ring true, it is Breslin's Maya. She's a little too precocious and cloying for her own good.

There are other drawbacks as well. Brooks, for example, never gives the reason why Will and his wife are divorcing.

And the film plays much longer than it should, which suggests that neither Brooks nor his protagonist really knows how to end this story.

But where "Definitely, Maybe" makes up for its shortcomings is that its story, like all oral histories, is told from the heart. And in that sense, this romantic comedy's heart is definitely in the right place.