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That's all a long-winded way of admitting that I, a 32-year-old man, mostly enjoyed watching The Proposal, Bullock's new romance with fan favorite Ryan Reynolds. (I'll turn in my dude credentials at the door on my way out.) Is the scenario behind The Proposal unlikely? Yes. Are there moments that will strain your suspension of disbelief and invoke some eye-rolling? Oh yeah. But the fact of the matter is - The Proposal succeeds much more than it fails, thanks largely to the beyond-likable performances of its two leads. Age-difference be damned, Bullock and Reynolds never let up until they've completely sold the audience on viability of their relationship and chemistry, which is THE most important aspect of a romantic comedy and the one area in which lesser comedies most consistently fail. If you have any doubts about that, check out any, let's say, Freddie Prinze Jr. romantic comedy and ask yourself if you believe the lead characters' relationship for a second or if you even believe they're real people. (I'll answer that for you - no and no.) Despite the film's certifiably wacky premise, Bullock and Reynolds make you want to believe in what they're selling and create a pleasant enough atmosphere that, despite plot holes and predictability, you're more than happy to go along with the ride.
The premise is purebred romantic-comedy fodder, a more jokey, less-French version of Green Card. Bullock is Margaret Tate, the editor-in-chief at the Manhattan publishing titan Colden Books, the kind of executive who is so terrifyingly direct that she can boss famous writers into appearing on Oprah and inspires her staff to IM warnings to each other as soon as she enters the building. Her assistant, Andrew Paxton (Reynolds), has been tolerating her non-stop abuse for three years, with the hopes that his tenacity will be rewarded with a big promotion, so idealistic Andy can publish the next great American novel. Andrew's plans hit a snag when, due to her disregard for procedure, the Canadian-born Margaret finds out that her work visa has been revoked and she's being deported to Toronto, a move that will torpedo her career and Andrew's plans to ride on her coattails. Margaret's solution to the problem - pretending that she and Andrew have been secretly dating and are planning on getting married - is extreme, but Andrew's unwilling to throw his three years of servitude down the drain (Margaret's rivals will surely fire him the second she's gone). However, at the dogged insistence of a suspicious Immigration officer, Andrew and Margaret have to travel to Andrew's hometown in Alaska for the weekend to sell the illusion of their relationship and Andrew has to break it to his family that the woman he's been complaining about for years is now going to be his wife. And, in the fine tradition of romantic comedies, wackiness ensues.
The oblivious Margaret soon discovers that Andy is the heir to a small-town Alaskan dynasty, run by his aloof father (Craig T. Nelson), who hates his son's decision to abandon the family business. Andy's loving, quirky mom (Mary Steenburgen) and Grandma (Betty White) are shocked at the engagement news, but quickly try to bring the uptight Margaret into the family, mostly notably by taking her to the small-town's only erotic dancer, Ramone (a scene-stealing recurring role played beautifully by Oscar Nunez from The Office). Of course, complications arise - Andy's ex (Malin Akerman) appears, their Immigration problems follow them, the constantly bickering couple are forced to fake a long-term relationship, but we all know how things will probably work out in the end anyway, don't we? Andy sees a new side of his boss, Margaret opens herself up to the concept of family - yes, it's contrived and predictable, but keep in mind that films like The Proposal are basically movie versions of karaoke. It's not supposed to be original. They're just repackaging a familiar tune, so essentially, the only issue is how well they performed their cover version.
On a whole, it's a good performance - nothing that would win American Idol, but a solid crowd-pleaser. Bullock and Reynolds make a great comic team, wincing and stammering through the early stages of their fake engagement and slowly developing a nice romantic tension through some clever, endearing bonding moments. The supporting cast is fairly strong (Nunez, in particular) and there are a few wonderfully staged moments of physical comedy. That's not to say there aren't a few false notes. There are moments where director Anne Fletcher apparently didn't trust her script or her leads enough to sell certain moments and instead inserted in fairly awkward, obvious, "shouting at the folks in the cheap seats" scenes that largely fall flat. There's one moment where an eagle grabs a dog that both looks terrible (as in cheap and poorly filmed) and seems like it belongs in another film. And there's another where Bullock falls out of a boat that tries to introduce a moment of dramatic tension, but again, doesn't fit with the rest of the film at all. One more caveat: there are plot holes aplenty in The Proposal - how could Bullock promote Andy following their marriage? (Do they allow wives to promote husbands at their company?); What happened to Bullock's rival?; etc. - but, I'll admit, most didn't occur to me until the drive home. In the theatre, I was too busy smiling at the chemistry between Bullock and Reynolds and silently hating myself for enjoying something that my 15-year-old self would've despised. Maybe I've softened with age, but every genre deserves a fanboy and I'm willing to declare "hail to the queen, baby" to the lovely Ms. Bullock.
Rating: TWO AND A HALF BONES
Reviewed by Tom Burns (MovieRetriever.com Film Critic)
Release Date: June 19, 2009
Rating: PG-13
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Malin Akerman, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Oscar Nunez, Betty White
Director: Anne Fletcher
Writer: Pete Chiarelli
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