Oh boy! Right after fed-up Howard (Richard Gere) breaks up with his man-eating, sex-starved lover, Monica (Susan Sarandon), she threatens revenge. And right after shy Grace (Diane Keaton) attempts a hotel encounter with demoralized Sam (William Macy), she has regrets. But all of those feelings evaporate when the four have a most unlikely, coincidental meeting.
Have I howled this hard in a film before? Has Diane Keaton, playing the shyly guilty, been this funny before? In a recent interview, Gere has said that choosing the cast for this had to be delicately done because of the subject matter. Sure, but on the surface the writing of this romantic comedy is more comedic than deep – and that’s a fun thing.
After the audience is set up with the unfaithful oldsters, we meet Michelle (Emma Roberts) and Allen (Luke Bracy), who have been living together. Michelle wants a ring on it. Is Allen serious or not? She wants a family, not a long-term convenient romance. So she decides that her parents and Allen’s should meet. “Let’s have them over for dinner!”
Of course, no one, including the unsuspecting parents, over-powering Monica and meek Sam or simple Grace and transforming Howard, knows that they’ve met each other before in wholly compromising circumstances.
Diane Keaton as Grace is at her comedic best. When she saw an apparently lonely, polite Sam (Macy) at a theater and befriends him, she hesitantly ended up in his hotel room. This spontaneity certainly makes her uncomfortable, but not as mortified when, a few days later, he shows up at her door with his wife as her daughter’s prospective father-in-law!
Since Howard (Gere), Grace’s husband, recently, callously and with relief, cut off his affair with Macy’s wife, scarily self-possessed and threatening Monica (Sarandon), the situation is fueled for fire. Because Monica has sworn murderous revenge, when Howard meets her in his hallway he is not only shocked but terrified.
Secrets must be kept!
A night of comedy ensues, while their children Michelle and Allen debate whether they want to commit to marriage. “You’ve been happy, haven’t you Dad?” young Allen asks humble Sam.
For Michael Jacobs, an award-winning multi-talented actor, writer, producer, and creator of theme songs, “Maybe I Do” is his first shot at both writing and directing. While he may not plumb the inner depths of marriage or the soul, “Maybe I Do” guarantees laughter with its fabulously talented cast.
Credits
Director/Writer: Michael Jacobs
Cast: Richard Gere, Diane Keaton, William H. Macy, Susan Sarandon, Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey
Executive Producers: Stephanie Heaton-Harris, Diane Keaton, Skyler Mednick, Jonathan Montepare, Jason Pinardo and Jennifer Semler
Producers: Michael Jacob, Scott Mednick, and Vincent Garcia Newman
Release: Jan. 27, 2023
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