Critical Film Condition

Because there’s a movie for every situation.

Review: “The Proposal”

Posted by krico On June - 22 - 2009

To make a long and totally constructed story short: Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is a very ambitious and pushy editor at a New York publishing house. She manages to make her staff’s life a living hell, especially her smart assistant Andrew Paxton’s (Ryan Reynolds). When her Visa application is denied, she has to present an American fiancée in order avoid deportation to Canada and save her job. Not really easy for a single and grumpy professional with no life outside the office. This is where an obedient assistant comes in handy. With the immigrations office hot on her tracks, Margaret blackmails Andrew into marrying her in exchange for a promotion.

proposalofficialWhen they travel to Alaska to meet Andrews’s family, Margaret is welcomed with open arms despite the horror stories Andrew has been sharing about his boss. In secret, everyone is suspicious however, especially Grandma Annie (Betty White), who delivers one of the best opening lines ever: “Would you like to be referred to as Margaret or Satan’s Mistress as usual?”

Margaret and her Louboutin heels are a clear disconnect in Alaska. All the fresh air and nature, the hunky Alaskan shop owners/strippers, Andrews six-pack and the experience of an actual family life are getting to her. When Grandma Annie insists that Margaret and Andrew get married that weekend all hilarity ensues.

The plot is usually a negligible factor in RomComs and “The Proposal” is no exception. In fact it is a somewhat laughable excuse. But Director Anne Fletcher (“27 Dresses”, “Step Up”) and writer Pete Chiarelli manage to turn this into a very likeable comedy with a tag-team of two fantastic lead actors. Both Bullock and Reynolds are great at physical comedy, which makes even the weak chemistry forgivable. And they both look very yummy naked (Deathpool, hello!), although Sandra Bullock is a little too skinny for my taste.

Another great asset is “Golden Girl” Betty White as Grandma Annie, part hell-raiser, part Shaman, part babymaker-blanket provider. The cast is completed by Mary Steenburgen (Grace Paxton) and Craig T. Nelson (Joe Paxton).

Check out this clip from the folks at funnyordie.com:

Perfect summer date movie.

Popularity: 6%

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4 Responses to “Review: “The Proposal””

  1. guddy says:

    Whoa, Ryan Reynolds really took the scene here. It's not that I don't like Sandra Bullock, but Reynolds really nails all the jokes. And, for the guys: Sandra Bullock is also naked in the movie, and she looks niiiiiice (don't be fooled by her age).

    Still think that he should've said waxed instead of wet, though… But it's a Disney movie.

  2. Jenny says:

    Pretty good post. I just found your site and wanted to say
    that I have really liked browsing your posts. Anyway
    I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

    • guddy says:

      Thanks for writing, Jenny.

      We're trying to keep the site as up to date as possible, and are working on a user interface that is both intuitive and informative with the new Good For, Bad For, Who to Watch With system. Hope you like it.

  3. nix says:

    I wanted to see this movie but i was not able to. :(

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