The Proposal Reviews

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since it was a big success at the box-office, I was quite curious to check this flick. First of all, I always had a weak spot for Sandra Bullock and I really enjoyed saying this actress playing an uptight bitch. Indeed, she did it so well and it was really refreshing to see her doing something else that her usual roles. Unfortunately, during the last 20 minutes,  her character suddenly completely changed and became one of her typically really nice girls which was just so boring. Concerning Ryan Reynolds, I haven't much to say about the guy. I mean, he was alright and rather funny most of the time but his character was not really interesting. Something rather surprising about this movie was that most of the characters were well played and rather believable, especially the supporting parts. Of course, there were a few stupid and awkward scenes (the dog/eagle thing, the exotic dancer, the indian chanting dance). To conclude, even though it was nothing really original and even though it was really predictable, I thought it was still a well made and entertaining romantic-comedy and if you like the genre, it is definitely worth a look.

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

3.5/10