Enredo

A political consultant tries to explain his impending divorce and past relationships to his 11-year-old daughter.

Romantic comedy: Will Hayes, a 30-something Manhattan dad is in the midst of a divorce when his 10 year old daughter, Maya, starts to question him about his life before marriage. Maya wants to know absolutely everything about how her parents met and fell in love. Will's story begins in 1992, as a young, starry-eyed aspiring politician who moves to New York from Wisconsin in order to work on the Clinton campaign. For Maya, Will relives his past as a idealistic young man learning the ins and outs of big city politics, and recounts the history of his romantic relationships with three very different women. On the campaign, Will's best buddy is Russell McCormack. They not only have similar political aspirations, they share the same type of girl problems, too. Will hopelessly attempts a "PG" version of his story for his daughter ad changes the names so Maya has to guess who he finally married. Is her mother Will's college sweetheart, the dependable girl next-door Emily? Is she his longtime best friend and confidante, the apolitical April? Or is she the free-spirited but ambitious journalist? As Maya puts together the pieces of her dad's romantic puzzle, she begins to understand that love is not so simple or easy. And as Will tells her his tale, Maya helps him to understand that it's definitely never too late to go back...and maybe even possible to find a happy ending.—Orange

On the day she has her first sex ed class, 10-year-old Maya grills her divorcing dad Will Hayes about her conception. That night, he fills her in, changing the names of the women who were in his life then to keep her guessing which is her mom: Emily, his college girlfriend when he came to New York from Wisconsin for Clinton's '92 campaign; April, edgy, a little cynical, who misses her father; and, Summer, a writer attracted to older, established men. In demanding the story, Maya's motivation is clear: to get her dad to fall in love again with her mom. Will this parent trap work? In the telling, might Will discover his true Penelope? Definitely. Maybe.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>

The students at PS322 in New York City have just had their first sex education class, which doesn't sit well with many of the parents and brings up many questions by the students of their parents, including the "gross" factor of if their parents really had sex to conceive them. But for ten year old Maya Hayes, the ultimate question becomes how her parents, Will and Sarah Hayes, met and fell in love and how that love disappeared on what is now the cusp of their divorce. Maya wants to know to figure out how to make a seemingly unhappy Will, which includes being unhappy in his current job as an ad executive, be happy again, hopefully with Sarah. Upon much coercion by Maya, Will finally relents but with one caveat and two assertions: he will change the names of the women involved so that Maya will have to figure out which is her mother, the story is not as simple as Maya would probably hope, but the story does have a happy ending. Will begins his story in 1992, when he, then politically active and fantasizing of one day becoming president, moves temporarily from his college stomping grounds of Madison, Wisconsin to New York City to work on Bill Clinton's presidential bid. The three primary candidates as Maya's mother are: "Emily", Will's college sweetheart, who is afraid that Will will never return from New York and if he does that his experience there will fundamentally change him; "Summer", Emily's New York based friend, a sexually liberated woman and professionally ambitious writer; and "April", the copy girl in Clinton's New York campaign office, she who challenges Will intellectually but who herself is unmotivated to do anything with her life. As Will's professional life rises and falls, and as Emily, Summer and April enter, exit and reenter his life, Maya continually changes her opinion on who she wants to be her mother. But as Will's story hits what Maya believes to be close to its conclusion (after a series of previous possible close conclusions), Maya believes she's figured out if Emily, Summer or April is indeed her mother. But Maya also learns that Will is correct in that the story is not as simple as a "Will/Sarah" happy ending and tries to help him find that happiness she feels he deserves.—Huggo

Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) works at an advertising agency in New York City and is in the middle of a divorce from wife Sarah (Elizabeth Banks). After her first sex education class, his 10-year-old daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) insists on hearing the story of how her parents met. Will gives in, but changes the names and some of the facts, leaving Maya to guess which of the women from his past is Sarah, her mother.

Will begins his "mystery love story" in 1992, when he moves away from Madison, Wisconsin and his college sweetheart, "Emily Jones" (Elizabeth Banks), to work on the Clinton campaign in New York City. There, he meets "April Hoffman" (Isla Fisher), a fellow campaign staffer, and delivers a package from Emily to her college friend, "Summer Hartley" (Rachel Weisz). The package is revealed to be Summer's diary, which Will had read, learning she had a brief affair with Emily in college.

Arthur Robredo (Nestor Serrano) is the campaign manager in NYC and Will is employed as a coffee boy in the campaign office. He was very frustrated with his life at this time. April is fun and refuses to be type cast as a democrat or a republican. she even makes fun of Will who believes politicians believe in anything other than their own blind ambition. Summer is dating her professor, Hampton Roth (Kevin Kline), but spontaneously kisses Will. Will admits that he has read her diary, but Summer is only amused at him and looks at him with lust. Will is confused and backs away.

At work Will graduates from toilet paper and bagels to campaign stickers. then one day he is asked to make phone calls to donors for $10K per seat dinners and he finds that he is really good at it. Will is on his way.

Will tells April his plan to propose to Emily, and rehearses his proposal; April replies, "Definitely, maybe". They go to her apartment, where Will notices her many copies of Jane Eyre. She explains that her father gave her a copy with a personal inscription shortly before he died, but the book was later lost. She has spent years searching secondhand bookstores to find it and collects any copy with an inscription. April and Will kiss, but he abruptly leaves. The next day, Emily arrives in New York City. Will tries to propose, but Emily confesses that she slept with his roommate, and urges him to move on and pursue his ambitions.

After Clinton is elected, Will opens a political consulting firm, and stays in close touch with April as she travels the world. He encounters Summer, now a journalist and single (They meet at Hampton's new book release party), and they begin a relationship. April returns from abroad, planning to tell Will that she loves him, but discovers he is planning to propose to Summer. Will learns that Summer has written an article that will ruin his candidate's campaign. He asks her not to publish it, but she refuses, and Will ends their relationship. The article derails the campaign, losing Will his political career and friends.

Few Years later, April reaches out to Will, who has fallen into depression in his new job, while she has a new boyfriend named Kevin. She throws Will a birthday party, reuniting him with his old colleagues. He drunkenly confesses to April that he loves her, leading to an argument about the state of their lives.

Passing a bookstore, he finds the inscribed copy of Jane Eyre April's father gave her. He goes to April's apartment to give her the book, but decides against it when he meets Kevin, who is living with her. Will runs into Summer who tells him she's pregnant and invites him to a party where he reunites with Emily, who has recently moved to New York City.

In the present, Maya deduces that "Emily" is her mother. Maya hopes her parents will reunite, but when the divorce is finalized, Will assures Maya that she is the story's happy ending.

Unpacking in his new apartment, Will discovers April's book. He brings it to her, apologizing for waiting so long, but she asks him to leave (when she learns that Will has had the book for years). At Maya's urging, Will realizes he is miserable without April, whose name he didn't change in the story like he did to "Emily"/Sarah and to "Summer", whose real name is Natasha. Will and Maya go to April's apartment, and he tries to explain his reasoning to her, but she does not let them inside. As Will and Maya walk away, April runs after them. Will explains that he kept the book as the only thing he had left of her. April invites them in to tell her the story, and she and Will kiss.