Maybe I Do

Infidelity is nothing new; the sins of the father and mothers are passed onto another generation to make the same mistakes, but can the cycle ever be broken? That’s part of the concept behind Maybe I Do, a bitter-sweet rom-com from writer director Michael Jacobs, based on his own play, which was more explicitly if not judgmentally titled Cheaters. Jacobs has had a long a successful career in tv and movies, and has been able to attract an A list cast to this project. Maybe I Do isn’t a typical rom-com, though, and is probably better sold as a filmed play; that’s not to say that Maybe I Do is not cinematic, but this is a tough-minded multiple-character drama that’s closer to the more abrasive Closer than it is to Sleepless in Seattle.

So we’re looking at three New York couples, or maybe more; Howard (Richard Gere) has been going out with Monica (Susan Sarandon) for the past four months, and their relationship is fizzling out fast. Meanwhile Sam (William H Macy) is sitting along in a cinema when he meets cute with Grace (Diane Keaton), and the two head to a motel with some fast food and a desire to talk all night. But these couples are connected in other ways too; part of the intrigue here is figuring out what the connection is.

An extra dimension comes via Allen (Luke Bracey) and Michelle (Emma Roberts), a young couple who have a family connection to the above adults, but are having doubts about whether their own relationship is going to blossom into a long term commitment. Fortunately, Maybe I Do rarely slips into slapstick territory, and manages to maintain dramatic tension as the true nature of the romantic connections is revealed. With a cast of Hollywood pros, the acting is uniformly strong, with Macy a stand-out in a despairing role that recalls his work in David Mamet’s Edmond; both he and Gere do well to suggest some anger bubbling beneath their outwardly domesticated appearance.

Maybe I Do is a tricky film to review in that while it ticks many of the rom-com boxes, it’s overall tenet is rather more serious than just couch-pleasing fulfilment, with the theatrical background providing something of a spin in the form of accomplished dialogue and tight structuring. In general, Jacobs attempts to put suburban mores under the microscope in the aggressive style that marked early Neil La Bute, and in a sea of lowest common denominator streaming products, that’s a plus rather than a minus. Roberts has her own fan base, but the chance to see some big stars delivering some fairly acidic, acerbic dialogue and exploring some fairly dark characters makes Maybe I Do worth seeking for those who think movies should be about more than hypocritical virtue signalling.

In the UK, Maybe I Do is streaming on Prime Video from 19th May 2023.