The Proposal

Written by: Pete Chiarelli
Directed by: Anne Fletcher

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Betty White, Denis O’Hare, Malin Akerman, Oscar Nunez

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, nudity and language

Normally I don’t bother with romantic comedies because they’re all the same, but for some reason I have a thing for Sandra Bullock and an even bigger thing for Ryan Reynolds so I had to give this one a go.

Margaret Tate (Bullock) is a no-nonsense Senior editor for a big firm in New York. She dresses nice, is well put together, lives in a posh Central Park loft, and is hated by absolutely everyone in her office. Her assistant, Andrew Paxton (Reynolds) is a 20-something wanna be editor who has been schlepping around behind Tate for the past three years just hoping to get a promotion.

After firing the guy right underneath her, Margaret is summoned to the big bosses office where she learns that she is being deported back to her native Canada for disobeying the law while reapplying for her Visa. Once deported Margaret will lose her job and the guy she just fired would be put in her place. Coincidently Andrew has to interrupt the meeting to get Margaret for other business. The wheels turn in her head and she announces to her superiors that she is in fact engaged to Andrew thus letting her become an American citizen. Andrew agrees if it gets him bumped up to editor.

Of course the government is suspicious of the union so Mr. Gilbertson (O’Hare) is assigned to the case and is determined to take the couple down. Certainly a weekend trip to the family house in Alaska would be enough evidence that these two love birds are legit…or will it?

There’s not much new to this movie. There’s a bitchy boss who can’t get a man. A young ambitious guy who has more layers than there appears to be. A cute mom and dad couple (Steenburgen and Nelson). The nice ex-girlfriend (Akerman)who regrets letting the guy go. Lots of misunderstandings and uncomfortable moments. All ingredients for the typical rom-com/date flick. But this isn’t a bad one. In fact, its quite enjoyable.

It’s good to see Sandra Bullock ditch sugary girl she’s been known to play. Ryan Reynolds is a great smart-ass but they try and give his character depth with the bad father-son relationship he shares with Craig T. Nelson. Betty White is the typical quirky grandma. I wish she would have cursed a lot more, but no complaints on her part.

The big big star of this movie is the beautiful Alaskan backdrop. I think the last movie I saw based there was Insomnia (the Simpson’s Movie doesn’t count really) and it drove me nuts. Oh and bonus points to the movie for having Sandra Bullock sing a lot of Lil Jon and drop it like its hot.

Overall I give this movie a C+. Too much logic is overlooked for me to give it higher ratings. How could the company be ok with a subordinate being engaged to their boss and getting a promotion? Why can’t she just have a work Visa? Do eagles really try to steal puppies (ok that’s not really necessary to the plot but they make a big deal about it)? But you get a few laughs and maybe even a mushy feeling somewhere in you. Totally a movie you just turn on if you catch it on HBO and you’re bumming on the couch. Nothing wrong with that.