The Proposal (2009): A Bittersweet Proposition You'll Enjoy
Written: Jun 30 '09 (Updated Jun 30 '09)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Fun stuff.
Cons: Loses a bit of momentum in places.
The Bottom Line: This is better than you expect and it is quite entertaining, even with a few strained places.
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| Ed.Williamson's Full Review: The Proposal |
It is always refreshing to see a new twist in the genre of the romantic comedy film, even if there are resonances from other similar films, and that is what you get in The Proposal, written by Pete Chiarelli and directed by Anne Fletcher, whose previous directorial work includes 2008's 27 Dresses and 2006's Step Up. The Proposal gets high marks for the acting of the lead characters and for a suspenseful script that is a whole lot better than I was expecting.
The lead actors are Sandra Bullock, who plays a tough lady here after many roles which likewise have called on her to display competent toughness, as she did in 2000's Miss Congeniality, and Ryan Reynolds, a fine, balanced young actor who has been in several movies of recent years such as 2008's Definitely, Maybe.
Sandra plays Margaret Tate, a hard-as-nails book editor for a New York publishing firm, while Ryan plays her yes-M'am-man-but-I-hate-you-behind-your-back executive assistant. The trouble starts when the cunning, dictatorial Margaret learns she is about to be deported and may well lose her hen-of-the-walk job because she has cut one too many corners in her zest to claw her way to the top of the corporate ladder. The Machiavellian way out of her dilemma? She needs a husband to make her legal in the States, and Ryan, playing Andrew Paxton, is summarily blackmailed by his dominitrixy boss into being an unwilling groom.
The plot thickens when an eagle-eye bureaucrat from the U.S. Immigration service threatens to slap the two unlikely and unloving fiances with a rap of fraud, which entails some unsavory consequences for the both of them. To beat the rap, Margaret and Andrew fly to Andrew's fancy family digs in Sitka, Alaska to learn enough about each other to pass muster with the feds and to attend Andrew's grandmother's birthday party. Margaret soon learns this isn't going to be as easy as getting a bestseller published.
The Paxton family is led by three of my favorite actors in supporting roles. Mary Steenburgen plays Grace, Andrew's doting mother. Craig T. Nelson plays Joe, Andrew's entrepreneural father who smells a rat when Andrew announces his engagement to Margaret. And Betty White plays Grandma Annie, a zany and highly hormonal geriatric whose raucous behavior shakes up everything.
There is much hilarious tension in the action, but thanks to a fairly good chemistry between Bullock and Reynolds, the story proceeds to a conclusion we cannot really see until the closing moments. Most of the time the acting is strong, sensitive, and spot-on.
To my eyes the only real weaknesses here were four. Occasionally the credibility goes a little flat in the interplay between the leads, but not often. Second, Sandra is mostly great here in her acting, but at times her transition from shrewishness to warmth doesn't quite get there. Third, I found Oscar Nunez's part to be less comical than a bit icky. And last, Betty Ford's lines in several places seem more over-the-top than in-the-zone. These reflect my subjective opinion, and others may see it differently, but that's what I saw.
Compared to a genuine five-star classic romantic comedy like 1989's When Harry Met Sally, The Proposal isn't quite up on the same level. But even so, it is head-and-shoulders above many romantic comedy offerings thrown at us today full of bad restroom humor and garishly flaunted epidermis with little sense of class or taste. If you are looking for an above-average date movie in the summer of 2009, you may well enjoy this as much as my date and I did.
Four Stars/ ****
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Date Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Script
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Epinions.com ID:
Ed.Williamson
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Member: Ed Williamson
Location: Way Out West, USA
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