Cast:
Sandra Bullock
Ryan Reynolds
Mary Steenburgen
Craig T. Nelson
Betty White
Rated: PG-13
Ah romcoms, the genre that keeps on giving.
“The Proposal” follows the character Margaret (Bullock), a no-nonsense boss and her assistant Andrew (Reynolds). In the office setting, Margaret is harsh 24/7 and Andrew is the only one who can put up with her.
However, Margaret’s world begins to crash down when she finds she will lose her job because of an issue with her visa and could have to move back to Canada. To keep her in the States, she fakes an engagement with Andrew. Through the predicament, they end up having to go to Alaska to meet Andrew’s family.
Many romcoms have the typical “meet-cute,” where characters have a chance encounter and romance eventually blossoms. With that in mind, it’s always nice to see a flick like “The Proposal” that tries to something a little different. The dilemma the two are in creates some legitimately funny moments and the relationship builds as a steady pace.
However, the premise doesn’t create a complete breakaway from cliches. The movie still involves some romcom tropes that get a little old after a while. The worst was the typical ‘third act misunderstanding’ where the characters have a big falling out over something minor.
The movie still largely works, though, because of the two lead characters. Both Reynolds and Bullock do a solid job in their roles with nice comedic timing. Additionally, the two really had a phenomenal chemistry. Another person in the film lending a strong performance was Betty White, who had a lot of fun as Andrew’s grandma.
“The Proposal” certainly has its hare of dumb comedy, but there were some really well written jokes here, the chemistry is there and the drama is kept to a relative minimum. 3 out of 5.
Matthew Liedke on Film 