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List Price: $29.99 | | Label: Touchstone Home Entertainment
Salesrank: 40
Released: October 13, 2009 |
| Our Price: $14.59 |
| Used Price: $10.30 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) terrorizes her publishing house co-workers with her abrasive, take-no-prisoners management style, especially her overworked assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds). But when Margaret is threatened with deportation to her native Canada because of an immigration technicality, the quick-thinking exec announces that she and Andrew are engaged to be married. Ambitious Andrew agrees to go along with her scheme—if there’s a long-awaited promotion in it for him. Everything is going according to Margaret’s plan, until an overzealous immigration official makes it his business to prove that the couple’s engagement is bogus. To demonstrate her commitment to her new fiancé, Margaret agrees to celebrate the 90th birthday of his colorful grandmother (Betty White) — in Alaska. The editrix’s type-A ways put her at odds with her eccentric future in-laws with hilarious consequences, until the Paxtons teach Margaret a thing or two about family.
Description of The Proposal (Single Disc Widescreen):
Rom-com favorite Sandra Bullock and the affably charming Ryan Reynolds’s superb chemistry turn The Proposal from otherwise standard romantic-comedy fare to one that is entertaining and sure to garner laughs. Margaret (Sandra Bullock) is a workaholic, tyrannical book editor (reminiscent of The Devil Wears Prada) who suddenly finds her career in jeopardy as she faces deportation back to Canada. Her solution is to simply fake an engagement to her unsuspecting assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds), who in turn blackmails her for a promotion. However, when Margaret is forced to head to Alaska with Andrew to visit his family in an effort to make their story believable to the deportation officers, they soon realize that their plan may not be so simple after all. The supporting cast of Dad (Craig T. Nelson), Mom (Mary Steenburgen), and kooky Grandma (Betty White, still a scene-stealer at 87) is great casting that makes for many amusing scenes. Bottom line: witty Reynolds and Bullock are perfect sparring partners for each other and not half bad to look at either. --Lisanne Chastain
Stills from The Proposal (Click for larger image)
The Proposal (Single Disc Widescreen) Reviews:
Sound & Fury, Signifying NOTHING! 
2009-11-22 - Well, Sandra Bullock is a favorite of mine, though I've been very disappointed by many of her films. It's not always her, it's the scripts. My favorites being Two Weeks Notice, The Net, and The Thing Called Love, in which she wasn't the star, but the film was pretty good.
But this, this was about the most boring movie I ever saw. I kept fast forwarding it, hoping it would get better or thinking about turning it off, and finally it came to and end. Thank goodness. I put it back in the little box and slipped it down below in the cupboard with other movies I didn't like, hated or some boring re-runs.
The plot is ridiculous, made no sense. The characters were ridiculous and made no sense. In fact, the whole movie made no sense. You've probably read the plot somewhere, so I won't bother to run through it, but unless you love bad farce, don't buy it.
And PS. I don't consider this a romantic comedy.
The Proposal 
2009-11-22 - I bought this movie for my wife's birthday. She laughed throughout the whole thing! It got me some good brownie points. Would recomment it for anyone who just needs a pick me up!
Formula movie that simply is not credible 
2009-11-22 - Sanda Bullock is looking her age. Her on screen relationship with the leading man simply doesn't come across as credible. He looks about 25, and she looks all of 45. The movie hangs together like a jig-saw puzzle, with a few of its pieces missing.
"Now, do you prefer being called Margaret... or Satan's Mistress?" 
2009-11-21 - When not handling his business in superhero cinema, Ryan Reynolds tends to roam into the comedy genre. THE PROPOSAL is his latest romantic comedy and this time he plays opposite Sandra Bullock, an actress I used to follow onscreen, but not lately. Sandra Bullock made an impression on me with Speed (Widescreen Edition) and While You Were Sleeping, and even with Demolition Man, but all those flicks are more than a few years ago and, somewhere along the way, I just stopped watching her. Here, she goes against type but manages to bring back all the elements which had originally made her so endearing.
It's about tyrannical, much-loathed book editor Margaret Tate suddenly learning that she's on the verge of being deported back to Canada. Grasping at straws, she bullies her long-suffering assistant Andrew Paxton into pretending that they're engaged, their upcoming "nuptials" the key to her remaining in New York. It's not too long before things get crazy out of hand, and Margaret finds herself flying out to Sitka, Alaska on a weekend trip with Andrew to celebrate his grandma's birthday. So cue the usual romantic stuff, with a very suspicious immigration officer closely keeping tabs on the pretend relationship.
Thing is, there's nothing new in this one. THE PROPOSAL is actually a by-the-numbers picture with a contrived premise, and so, as it often turns out, whether the film sinks or swims hinges on the compatibility and appeal of the two leads. I have friends who don't dig Reynolds, and nowadays I rarely get swayed by Bullock's charms. But I happen to think that these two actors, in this movie, click together. The mutual dislike of their characters is palpable and very enjoyable, and, honestly, there's nothing quite so exquisite as when two people who really don't like each other end up crashing into each other while both are bare-nekkid. Returning to the down side, predictable sub-plots wing its way towards you and, by gum, there's even that most cliched of cliches: a frantic, last-minute dash to the airport. I was amused, but not too startled at the revelations regarding Margaret. We all suspected, going in, that she just had to have a softer side. And to check off on the "endearing character quirk" angle, Margaret happens to harbor a hidden fondness for rap music - and specifically for Lil Jon and Rob Bass & DJ E-Z Rock. That's sweet.
By now, Ryan Reynolds has this kind of role down pat. The bemused look, the pinched expression, the deadpan delivery, he's a natural at all that stuff. Several of his insults directed at Bullock are very funny. His character also has a side story centering on his bitter estrangement from his father. Mostly, though, Reynolds serves as the framing device with which to show off Sandra Bullock's pretty good performance. I've never seen Bullock in a mean dragon lady part (it's like seeing Norman Rockwell beat up a child), but I must say she's surprisingly effective and convincing and callous as heck. It's almost a shame that this particular genre demands that she eventually demonstrate a warmer, more vulnerable side to her. I was getting a kick out of her being this icy, horrifically insensitive boss.
THE PROPOSAL will have you wallowing in despised boss revenge fantasies and just maybe, even fantasies of a near nude Sandra Bullock, who may be in her forties now but, dang, she shows off a sexy bod. Okay, some of the scenes are cringe-worthy, the two most embarassing ones probably being the bachelorette party dude stripper dance and Betty White doing some sort of uncomfortable tribal dance. But this last one actually becomes funny when Betty asks Sandra Bullock to join in, and Sandra - well, you just have to see it.
3.5 out of 5 stars for this one.
An entertaining movie
2009-11-20 - This is a good movie for entertainment. It has many strange twists that add to the humor. It also shows us that we should not prejudge people as they may not be what them seem. My wife and I watched it several times and enjoyed it each time.
