Review - The Proposal (7/10) - 2009: Sandra Bullock Proposing More Laughs Than Usual

I am an avid fan of Ryan Reynolds and know that no matter what movie he's in, I'm guaranteed his quick-witted humour and laughing until my sides hurt (See Just Friends, Van Wilder, and Two Guys, A Girl And A Pizza Place to name a few). However the dilemma for me was the simple fact that Sandra Bullock would be co-starring in a movie with primarily two characters.



The reason the movie "Crash" didn't affect affect me so badly was the fact she only starred in about 2-3 scenes. She is the same, whiney actress in nearly everything she does and I was almost debating giving the movie a miss because of it. You may think it's harsh, but I'm really not a fan.

I'd like to think that I'm right a lot of the time, but on this occasion, her performance was superb. This could be down to the fact that her role was a stuck up ice-queen Margaret Tate, an executive editor-in-chief of a major book publishing company...but this is besides the point. The movie surrounds Bullock, a Canadian-national working in America, who's visa has expired and suddenly faces deportation.

Her plan includes blackmailing her personal assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her in order to avoid the deportation process, therefore making her a legal American Citizen. He grudgingly accepts, under the condition that he is promoted to the position of editor. The story continues with Reynolds' trip to Alaska for his grandma's 90th birthday party where the "couple" aim to announce their "engagement". As always, Reynolds performs solidly with numerous facial expressions, catch-phrases, and actions to make this a very enjoyable Romantic Comedy.

The following movie trailer indicates things to come throughout the movie:



It was reported that Reynolds was shocked to discover that he would be sharing an exposing scene with Bullock at one point within the movie. He initially believed that the script would be re-written to exclude the scene, as he didn't think she would agree to filming it.

I'd like to mention however that this movie was not as successful as Just Married for example as the missing ingredient was Reynolds' dialogue. I don't believe that he was provided with a completely solid script, in the sense that his humour almost seemed forced and trying to compete with roles in previous movies. Nevertheless, I rate this movie 7/10 and found it an extremely enjoyable romantic comedy and highly recommend it for a good night in with the other-half (or lots of popcorn and ice-cream if you're on your own).