The Proposal

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The Proposal

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The Proposal

Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Malin Akerman, Craig T. Nelson, Mary Steenburgen

Sandra Bullock is at her funniest in the fresh, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy The Proposal. On the verge of being deported and losing the high-powered job she lives for, the controlling Margaret anno...( read more  read more... )unces she’s engaged to her unsuspecting, put-upon assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds).

Id: 10979257

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Recent Reviews

The Proposal Recent Reviews
  • TheMachinist
    February 4, 2010
    TheMachinist
    "Margaret, will you marry me? Because I'd like to date you."

    I'm not that big fan of romantic comedies but I happened to see this movie. The fact that it had Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in it made it even easier. And while watching it, when Betty White ('Golden Girls') came...( read more) on screen I was sold to the movie. My favourite TV actress of all times!

    The biggest problem with 'The Proposal' is the story. There's nothing new to report here about the romcom genre. But what made this movie actually fun to watch was the supporting cast, Mrs White and Oscar Nunez as Ramone. They deliver the laughs while Bullock and Reynolds concentrate on looking good. Oh, there is one funny scene with only them in it, the one were they are nude for the first time. That scene was brilliantly made!

    The ending dropped several points of the final rating. Nunez was the absolute star of the film and a new acquaintance for me. Hope to see more of him in the future. But for those who enjoy romcoms more than anything, 'The Proposal' will surely deliver enough of "movie magic". I would've just hoped that the filmmakers could've been a bit more brave to make the ending a bit more different. You all know what will happen, right?
  • PvtCaboose91
    February 1, 2010
    PvtCaboose91
    Margaret: "Would you please, with cherries on top, marry me?"
    Andrew: "Okay. I don't appreciate the sarcasm, but I'll do it. See you at the airport tomorrow."


    Tackling any film genre can be tough, but romantic comedies pose a unique challenge. Vital to a

    ...( read more)rom-com's success is sizzling chemistry between the leads, because an audience has to believe and care about the central coupling. In addition, the conclusion for virtually every rom-com is obvious, so it's always the journey the matters - it has to be fun, fresh and funny. Over recent years, Hollywood has established a bad reputation when it comes to the genre, and this is reinforced with The Proposal. A standard-issue, paint-by-numbers product of the weary mills of Hollywood, this romantic comedy fails the key acid test: it doesn't sell the romance, and it's unable to offer a fresh or funny journey.


    Cliché #1 of The Proposal is Margaret Tate (Bullock); a take-no-prisoners company executive with a reputation for being a witch around the workplace. Cliché #2 is soon introduced when it's revealed that Margaret is in fact a Canadian, and she's about to be deported because her visa application was denied. In desperate need of a miracle to remain on America soil, she hastily talks her perplexed assistant Andrew (Reynolds) into marrying her, and he goes along with the scheme on the condition of a brighter career future. For an upcoming weekend, Andrew had planned to visit his family in Alaska, and Margaret decides to accompany him. This, of course, brings about the introduction of cliché #3: career-minded woman attempting to adjust to a warm family environment. With Andrew's family, we meet clichés #4 and #5 - the crazy and inappropriate grandmother, and the disapproving father. From there, The Proposal continues on; checking off one cliché after another.


    Written by Pete Chiarelli, The Proposal is best described as hackneyed storytelling in desperate search of creative oxygen to keep itself alive. Unfortunately, director Anne Fletcher offers little helpful assistance. Fletcher (whose work on such films as Step Up and 27 Dresses demonstrated her knack for turning potentially decent films into the dullest motion pictures imaginable) is best described as a robotic studio filmmaker, and the conventional The Proposal is solid evidence of this. Heck, this thing is so by-the-numbers that even the score exudes embarrassing lethargy - all the music cues are straight from the "Scoring Rom-Coms" handbook, almost as if every single fragment of the score was stolen from other films. Unfortunately, as well, the humour is usually forced and languid. Ryan Reynolds is the only performer able to provide a semblance of wittiness, but his jokes seem improvised rather than scripted, and even these can only provoke smiles or reserved chuckles rather than genuine belly-laughs.


    Once the proceedings shift to Alaska, the pace slows to a crawl as the film becomes borderline painful to watch, and the set-ups grow blatantly obvious (a character at one stage mentions that the dog cannot be let outside due to the eagles...can you guess what will happen later into the story?). As the poor comedic sequences continue to unfold, one can all but hear the mechanisms of the tired plot creaking into place. The film is lazy as well - early into the film, Margaret states that her and Andrew got engaged after dating for a year, while Andrew later says they dated for six months (on both occasions said to the same person). This discrepancy in their stories should've provided further conflict, but it's just a continuity error. Worse, the most trite and predictable third-act crisis imaginable is thrown in. Meanwhile, Andrew's old flame is introduced at one stage; building the promise of further exploration and perhaps someone to tempt Andrew away from Margaret. Alas, this arc never comes to fruition. As previously said, the outcome is almost always a foregone conclusion in the world of romantic comedies, and through the removal of this potentially suspenseful roadblock for Andrew, the film forfeits any hope that the dreary Hollywood structure may be spruced up.


    The Proposal commits another cardinal sin: it tells us the protagonists are in love rather than showing us through subtle body language. We're expected to believe that after a few conversations and bickerings over a three-day weekend, these characters are now in love. Problem is, try as we might, we never really feel it. And neither, it appears, do the actors. Speaking of the actors, most of them are standard-order. Bullock plays another variation of her regular screen persona, though Ryan Reynolds truly shines; his sharp line delivery is a skill that's severely missed whenever Bullock tries to generate laughs on her own. It's not easy playing second fiddle to Bullock's dragon-lady persona, but Reynolds easily holds his own with genuine charm. Without a doubt, he's the best thing about this movie.
    There are several other recognised actors to see here as well, such as Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Betty White, Denis O'Hare, and Malin Akerman. White is of particular note here, but she's far too good for this material.


    I have no problem openly acknowledging that The Proposal was not made for me. After all, surprise-free romantic comedies aren't my cinematic cup of tea. And quite frankly, it's fine that females can enjoy this sugar-sweet two-hour rom-com. Nevertheless, the best genre films in history are those that satiate both the target audience as well as others. If action films like Die Hard can be enjoyed by females, and Love Actually can make romantic comedies palatable to the blockbuster fanatics, it's certainly not unreasonable for me to have demanded more from The Proposal.
  • Godless
    January 7, 2010
    Godless
    I propose to not see anymore movies like this. You see what i did there?
  • briandeguelle
    December 30, 2009
    briandeguelle
    oh hum we seen it all before type movie.Some silly laughs but again its the ending that all to firmiller.Ryan Reynolds here is great to watch but seen better of late but its sandra bullock that seem it be sleepwalking with this one.Havnt we seen her do this before? Anyway ok for ...( read more)a sunday afternoon and thats about it for this one.
  • RCCLBC
    December 30, 2009
    RCCLBC
    Sandra Bullock does her best "Sandra Bullock being bitchy".
    Ryan Reynolds is sexy but completely annoying.
    Mary Steenburgen is beautiful and charming.
    Betty White is hilarious and under used.
  • ThatTallGrlMare
    February 8, 2010
    ThatTallGrlMare
    SUMMARY
    romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson and Betty White. directed by Anne Fletcher.

    when shrewd New York book editor, Margaret Tate (Bullock), is threatened with deportation, she forces her assistant, Andrew Paxton...( read more) (Reynolds), to marry her. however, before they can tie the knot, she has to go home with him and meet his family... in Alaska.

    MY TAKE
    I love Sandy B. and would watch her in anything... I watched Speed 2 for goodness sakes!... and despite the fact that this is a very predictable film that follows the good ol' rom com formula to the letter, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

    Betty White once again steals all of the scenes that she is in, as the silly, yet very frank, Gammie. I love her! just wanna pick her up and put her in my pocket! another happy little find for me was The Office's Oscar Nunez, as Ramone, the town's go to man for everything... including the town's exotic dancer. he made me giggle several times.

    oh! almost forgot about the soundtrack... Katy Perry, Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock, Lil' Jon... good stuff!

    sweet, funny little rom com. ♥
  • kathmanlangit
    February 8, 2010
    kathmanlangit
    I have no idea how many times that i have watched this movie!it's definetly one of my favorites!
  • DonnaHx007
    February 7, 2010
    DonnaHx007
    I had very low expectations of this movie, so that might have been why I was so pleasently surprised.

    It's a funny movie, though way too predictable of course. Still worth seeing.
  • MovieManJDS
    February 7, 2010
    MovieManJDS
    Brilliant chick flick.
  • akimotorin
    February 6, 2010
    akimotorin
    znow plakalam ze smiechu...
    najzabawniejsza z tego typu komedii jaka kiedykolwiek widzialam
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