QUICK THOUGHTS: The Proposal is a formulaic and familiar romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds as a publishing executive and her haggard assistant entering into a marriage of convenience so he can become a big-time literary editor and so she won’t get deported back to Canada. The film co-stars Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson and Betty White as Reynolds’ Alaskan family who unwittingly become pawns in the pair’s matrimonial ruse.
A massive summertime box office hit, I was pleasantly surprised by roughly 60-percent of director Anne Fletcher’s (27 Dresses, Step Up) latest effort. Bullock and Reynolds have great chemistry, their early sparring as they hammer out the details of their illegal contract brought a smile to my face. Unfortunately, the usual romantic comedy clichés intrude and once Pete Chiarelli’s script requires the main characters to fall in love things become far less interesting. Still, the movie is hardly a disaster, and thanks to the talents of its cast I admit to enjoying the majority of it.
SUPPLEMENTS: Not much. There is a ho-hum audio commentary with Fletcher and Chiarelli where the pair spend far too much time explaining the plot than they do discussing the mechanics of making the movie. Other than that, there is the film’s disastrous original ending which was thankfully re-shot, two deleted scenes (one of which involving Steenburgen and Nelson is kind of charming) and a glorified gag/outtake reel (see right) that’s about as funny as being slapped in the face by a cast-iron skillet.
FINAL THOUGHTS: The Proposal isn’t an engagement I’d seal with a kiss but it isn’t the bad, brutal break-up it should have been. While the movie is formulaic and cliché, the chemistry of its two stars and the talents of its supporting cast managed to win me over to the point that fans of the genre should be perfectly satisfied with a rental.
