Question of the day: is Ryan Reynolds a movie star? My answer for the day: no, although he occasionally does a decent impression of one. Reynolds certainly gets a fair number of lead roles, but he hasn’t been able to make the leap from “B”-level star to big name.

Reynolds tries to make himself into a romantic lead with 2008’s Definitely, Maybe. He plays Will Hayes, the recently divorced single father of 10-year-old Maya (Abigail Breslin). After a sex ed class piques her interest, she demands to know how he met her mother.

Will agrees to tell her, but he decides to make it more interesting. He tells her about three prior girlfriends and lets Maya figure out which one became her mother. He changes the names – and some of the facts – as he tells her about “Emily” (Elizabeth Banks), “April” (Isla Fisher) and “Summer” (Rachel Weisz).

Maybe is the kind of movie that makes you think. As I watched it, I thought about all sorts of things. I thought about what chores I need to do around the house. I thought about what’s on my schedule at work this week. I thought about what my friends are up to today.

What didn’t I think about? Definitely, Maybe. The movie offered such a boring experience that I found it exceptionally difficult to focus on what I watched. For a tale about multiple romances and life-altering events, not much ever seems to happen. Will coasts through the film without much to make him stand out, and his various loves stand as little more than general caricatures.

Which is a shame, given that the movie features so much talent. The three girlfriends do their best to bring life to the flick. Banks, Fisher and Weisz are all very talented – and pretty hot, too – but the script lets them down. The roles are one-dimensional at best, and despite the actors’ best efforts, they can’t do much to give their characters real personality or spark.

All of the women deserve better, but I’m not so sure about Reynolds. He’s a competent actor who suffers from a relentless case of the drabs. Everything about him seems ordinary. He’s blandly handsome and exhibits a general lack of personality. I certainly don’t dislike Reynolds, but there’s little about him that allows him to carry a movie.

And that’s a problem, especially when director Adam Brooks can’t find any way to add zip to the tale. Maybe offers a reasonably clever chick flick premise, but it fails in terms of execution. The story ambles along at a slow pace and can’t quite engage the viewer. To describe it in a word, I’d have to go with “yawn”.

Definitely, Maybe appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. This was a passable transfer and that was about it.

Sharpness was generally fine. A little softness marred wider shots, but the majority of the flick looked acceptably well-defined and accurate. No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and only light edge enhancement materialized. Source flaws were absent, but the movie seemed awfully grainy much of the time; the grain levels were distracting.

Colors appeared decent at best. They lacked much vivacity and tended to seem somewhat drab and flat. Blacks followed suit, as dark elements looked muddy, and shadows were too dense. Low-light shots came across as dull and somewhat tough to discern. This was a consistently ordinary transfer that deserved a “C+”.

When I examined the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack of Maybe, I couldn’t find much to praise, either. I expected that, though, since I wouldn’t anticipate a wild experience from this sort of chick flick. The soundfield focused on the front spectrum, and music presented the most prominent element. The score showed good stereo imaging, and we got some minor ambience, but that was about it. If the surrounds played a real part, I didn’t notice them; they added some mild reinforcement and nothing else. This was a very low-key experience.

Audio quality was fine. Speech sounded distinctive and natural, without edginess or other issues. Effects didn’t have much to do, but they were acceptable for what they offered. Music appeared reasonably full and rich. There wasn’t enough here to merit a grad above a “C+”, though, so don’t expect a memorable soundtrack.

When we head to the DVD’s extras, we start with an audio commentary from director Adam Brooks and actor Ryan Reynolds. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific piece. They discuss cast and performances, music, sets and locations, characters and story, and a few other production issues.

A dull movie gets a mediocre commentary. Though we get a reasonable number of useful facts, a fair amount of puffery also occurs, and we discover too many slow spots and dead air. There’s enough content to keep you with the piece, but don’t expect a scintillating chat.

Four Deleted Scenes run a total of five minutes, 42 seconds. These mostly provide a bit more info about the characters in “present day”. That makes them moderately interesting but they wouldn’t have fit all that well in the flick; its denouement goes on too long as it is, so extra “finishing up” footage would’ve made the movie even slower.

Two featurettes follow. Creating a Romance goes for 12 minutes, 29 seconds as it mixes movie clips, shots from the set, and interviews. We hear from Reynolds, Brooks, executive producer Liza Chasin and Bobby Cohen, and actors Derek Luke, Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin and Rachel Weisz. The show covers characters and story, cast, characters and performances, Brooks’ work as director, and closing thought about the movie. Expect a standard puff piece here. No real information appears in this promotional clip.

The Changing Times of Definitely, Maybe runs five minutes, eight seconds and features Brooks, Reynolds, Chasin, Cohen, Banks, Fisher, Weisz, Breslin, production designer Stephanie Carroll, and costume designer Gary Jones. The program examines period details used to cover the various eras viewed in the movie. A few good tidbits emerge here, but the piece is too brief and superficial to truly satisfy.

A few ads open the DVD. We get clips for Mamma Mia, Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day, and Lipstick Jungle. No trailer for Maybe appears here.

I’ve seen worse chick flicks than Definitely, Maybe, but I’ve not seen many I’d call more forgettable. Despite a clever premise and some talented actors, the film provides a consistently dull, ordinary piece without much to entertain. The DVD provides mediocre picture and audio as well as unexceptional extras. Nothing about this release stands out as notable, so I’d advise you to skip it.