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The Proposal
Starring the delightful and goofy
Sandra Bullock, she tries on another pair of shoes in this
clichéd romantic comedy where she plays the boss from hell. Playing
Margaret Tate, a "my way or the high way" book publisher for a Manhattan
publishing firm, her life is all about work and to compound the
situation, she is viewed as a ruthless bully by her staff. As the
workers are on edge, her secretary or "executive assistant", Andrew
(Ryan Reynolds) tries to smooth things over for his colleagues by giving
them the heads up when she is in the office or attempting to keep her
appeased such as providing her coffee in the morning. Of course with all
romantic comedies enter conflict the number one.
Her dream job in New York is about to come crashing down when she learns
that she is to be deported to Canada for failing to complete the
paperwork for residency and when she is approached by her superiors
about this issue, she comes up with the
clever idea of blackmailing her secretary Andrew into marrying
her. Although Andrew despises his boss, he manages to turn the situation
to his advantage and blackmails Margaret into making him an editor if he
goes along with this scam. Under
the watchful eye of an immigration officer, both Margaret and Andrew
visit his family in Sitka Alaska for his grandmother's (Betty White)
90th birthday where they will also make the announcement of their
upcoming marriage.
Although Margaret is shocked to learn that Andrew's family is quite
rich, the clichés and stereotypes of the movie begin and eventually, the
unthinkable happens and they both fall in love. As the movie progress,
the quirkiness of Bullock comes out of her hardened shell, however the
star of the movie for me was Betty White (Boston Legal) who really stole
the show on many occasions. There is even a conflict between Andrew and
his father (Craig T. Nelson) with him remaining distant from his family
as he does not want to take over the business and would rather be his
own man. Reynolds really gets into his character and his straight man
approach works well with the story. The relationship between Bullock and
Reynolds is quite believable and both actors seem to bounce off each
other, especially the hilarious scene when they accidentally bump into
each other naked. Without spoiling the movie or the ending, those who
have seen these movies before will easily guess the upcoming conflicts
and ending of this film, however it still is an enjoyable romantic
comedy.
The video quality on DVD is clear with sharp images and vibrant colours,
especially with the outdoor scenes, although there are some really bad
green screen effects in the movie, one involving an eagle and a dog with
the other, the superimposed backgrounds. The audio is crisp and the
dialogue quite clear, although given the genre, don't expect to hear
anything phenomenal. When it comes to extras, the movie features
... Interestingly enough, it
also contains an alternate ending which I did enjoy more than the final
version. None the less, The Proposal
is definitely a cutesy movie that we enjoyed, even though it was oozing
with clichés and North American "country folk" stereotypes.
Special Features
Deleted Scenes (With Optional Commentary By Director Anne Fletcher And
Writer Pete Chiarelli)
Alternate Ending (With Optional Commentary By Director Anne Fletcher And
Writer Pete Chiarelli)
Set Antics: Outtakes And Other Absurdities From The Proposal
Audio Commentary (View The Film With Commentary By Director Anne
Fletcher And Writer Pete Chiarelli) |
