Written and directed by Michael Jacobs, Maybe I Do is a romantic comedy that features an award-winning all-star cast of Diane Keaton, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Emma Roberts, Luke Bracey, and William H. Macy. The film’s plot is simple and has a hilarious, heartwarming arch that spans generations.
Michelle and Allen have reached a point where one wants to settle down, and the other is content with where they are in their relationship. When their families decide to meet, things get seriously awkward as it turns out the older generations are well acquainted with one another. Tension builds, and secrets are about to get spilled, so the two couples try to keep their affairs hidden from their children while dealing with their precarious situation.
Although there has never been a concrete answer to life’s most complicated question, Is It Ever Enough? Through his film, the director tries to answer one of the most asked questions that bother both young and old couples alike.
Maybe I Do is full of witty banter and twists with heart at the right place that keeps you laughing even though you already know what will happen in the end.
In the following article, I have detailed everything significant that happens in the film with an added dive into the explanation of how it ends. Spoiler Alert, kindly read at your discretion.
Maybe I Do (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The movie introduces us to three different couples. The first one begins with Sam (played by William H. Macy) watching a sad movie at the theatre. Present with him is Grace (Diane Keaton), watching Sam crying his eyes out over a sad scene in the film. She gets up and sits with him, and the two instantly connect.
Impulsively, they decide to go to a nearby motel, but Grace’s morality doesn’t allow her to do any ‘sin’ with Sam. Meeting a stranger is an alien experience for Grace, so instead, the two walk around the neighborhood talking the whole evening.
Next, we see Howard (Richard Gere) and Monica (Sudan Sarandon) in a posh hotel room. Monica wants to spend the night making love to Howard, but he looks pretty uptight about the idea. He wants to avoid spending the night talking about the same thing as last time, and neither does he want to touch Monica. She gets irritated and wants to understand why is he letting his existential thoughts ruin what could be a really interesting night in each other’s arms. They had a one-night stand four ago and have been regularly meeting each other ever since.
Now, Howard starts feeling guilty and questions what they have been doing with each other. While Monica wants to continue having fun, Howard is not happy with how things are shaping. So he decides to leave, even after Monica intimidating him for having hurt her feelings.
We are then introduced to a much younger couple – Michelle (Emma Roberts) and Allen (Luke Bracey), who are attending their best friend’s wedding. Allen panics when he learns his recently married best friend’s wife will throw her wedding bouquet – aimed at Michelle.
He leans, jumps from a table, and catches the flowers before his girlfriend catches them. The two get into an argument back home when Michelle realizes that Allen doesn’t want to marry her. Allen is content in his life with her; however, Michelle has always imagined being married to him. She gives him 24 hours to decide whether he wants to marry her. Otherwise, she will break up with him since both of them have different opinions when making such a significant life decision.
Moving ahead, we see Grace married to Howards, and Michelle is their only daughter. On the other hand, Allen is Sam and Monica’s only child, indicating that problems will soon knock at their respective doors. When Michelle turns to her parent’s house for the night, she explains how things have suddenly changed with her partner after she asked him about marriage. It clearly shows that Michelle is oblivious to her parent’s estranged relationship. They try to make her understand that things can get overwhelming when discussing marriage in any relationship.
On the other hand, Allen also visits his parents, who don’t have anything in common. After being married for so many years, they both have started to resent one another. However, Sam is still hopeful in some way that Monica will change her attitude toward him one day.
After hearing what Allen says about his girlfriend, his mother asks him why he thinks he is happy with Michelle now. He feels that she is the love of his life and the first person to talk to about anything. His mother thinks that when one changes the status of the relationship, it changes completely. Monica seems logical about everything, and Sam is deeply emotional. It is why they have different advice to give their son when making a life decision.
When Sam thinks Monica is not giving their son the right advice he needs to hear, he excuses her to bring coffee for all of them. Monica gets offended about this, but Sam gets mean to her and, after his wife leaves them, finds a brief moment where he can share his two cents about his son’s dilemma.
Sam explains to his son that there is no perfect time for anything. And one must entirely devote themselves to the relationship when they are confident that one is happy and in love with the person. There is no point in dwelling and asking oneself questions that won’t matter in a few years because if you love someone, you know things never change for you.
Meanwhile, the following day, Michelle’s mother wants to meet Allen’s parents. Michelle calls Allen and invites all three of them for dinner at their place. Monica is not delighted with the idea, but Sam is thrilled and feels this is the right thing to do.
Maybe, I Do (2023) Movie Ending, Explained:
What happens when Michelle and Allen’s parents meet one another?
At this point of the film – Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, and Wiliam H. Macy have done a fantastic job as their characters have come off strong with their performances. The chemistry between all the actors off-screen clearly brings out the chemistry onscreen, which makes it interesting to watch them as they try to figure out how to resolve their ongoing situation.
Somehow, the last half an hour of the film reminded me of the scene from the film Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011) when the parents are already having affairs with each other. For some reason, the screenplay and the performance felt more justifiable if it was done on stage rather than on film.
Things get awkward and silly when everyone comes together to meet for dinner. Monica has come for a visit feeling tipsy, so she is already on her best behavior, and it intrigues her to meet Howard – who is shocked to see her.
Sam hears Grace’s voice and instantly recognizes it and sneaks out of the house, fearing that seeing her will ruin everyone’s night. While others look outside for Sam, Monica intimidates Howard and calls the night one of her most exciting nights ever.
Soon, we see Sam knocking at the door, and Grace is mortified to see him. Michelle introduces everyone and calls in for drinks. As Allen and Michelle go to another room, Michelle asks Grace to show Sam around the house.
Again we are shown three different conversations happening all simultaneously. First, we see Sam and Grace talking about how beautiful it was that they met and spent the whole evening just chatting. Sam likes Grace but is devoted to her husband because –
a. Grace is a religious person who follows weekly episodes of pastors preaching on TV. and b. Even though she never found her husband the kind of attention she thinks she deserves, deep down, she is committed to him and hopes he will see her the way he once did.
On the other hand, we see Sam sharing his true feeling about his wife to Grace. He tells her that he hates his wife and her guts, and he thinks Monica hates him as she never lets him near her or has a moment where they might agree with each other.
Then we see Michelle eager to hear what Allen says about getting married. Allen shares that he doesn’t want to get married because, for a long time, he has been seeing his parent’s marriage slowly dissolve. He doesn’t want the same things happening to his beautiful relationship with Michelle.
At the same time, Michelle has the highest regard for her parent’s marriage and sees it as the ultimate goal of any relationship.
They lie down together, and Allen asks her if she thinks they will spend the rest of their lives just like their parents. He explains to her that he feels this confusion about getting married because of his experience of seeing his parents unhappy. Because of his parent’s marriage, he thinks that there will be a point in their life when they stop loving each other just because they got married and are now bound. He doesn’t want the same thing to happen to him.
It turns out that he is not afraid to get married to her but afraid of losing beautiful years with her because of the idea that marriage changes everything. Michelle walks out of the room, saying that this has nothing to do with them.
Do Michelle and Allen know about their parent’s extramarital affair?
When everyone assembles in the hall with their drinks, Michelle walks up to Allen and tells him she wants to try one last time because if she doesn’t and supposes she meets someone else, she will never be happy or content in life.
While Michelle is certain about the kind of life she wants to have with Allen, he, on the other hand, is scared things will drastically change with every milestone. She assures him that everything will remain the same as long as the two are in this together. She cannot make any promises about not getting crazy later because love is, after all, a crazy emotion.
This emotional moment makes Michelle sad, as she breaks down, and Allen follows her to the other room.
Seeing all this, Grace says that babies are born so helpless, and parents get them only when they cannot do anything. However, now that the children are grown up and feel helpless, parents can’t do anything to help them out of their misery. It turns out that all this is a kind of learning meant for the parents so that they can look back at the time and feel that they have done the best they could.
Monica, who had been sipping her martini, gets up and demands to talk about last night. Sam and Howards say together that nothing happened. It shocks everyone as they slowly learn about the affairs that have been happening between them.
While Grace cannot imagine Howard doing this to her, Monica is amazed to learn that Sam even had it in him to cheat on her in the first place. However, the four reconcile as they forgive one another.
We then see Allen and Michelle getting married with their parents as their supportive pillars. The film ends with the parents kissing one another as the bride and groom walk down the aisle after their minimalistic marriage ceremony.
Read More: Plane (2023) Movie Ending, Explained
Maybe, I Do (2023) Movie Links – IMDb
Maybe, I Do (2023) Movie Cast – Emma Roberts, Luke Bracey, Richard Gere, William H. Macy, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon
Where to watch Maybe I Do
