"The Proposal" stars Sandra Bullock as a publishing executive who forces her assistant to marry her so that she can avoid deportation back to Canada. Ryan Reynolds plays the unlucky assistant who takes his bride to be back home to Alaska in order to quickly form a believable relationship in his family's eyes.
You see, even though "The Proposal" is a fairly predictable and contrived little film, it somehow managed to make me care for the characters involved. I actually believed the romance that forms between the two main characters.
The movie manages to avoid the one huge problem with most romantic films: the love story is never believable. I understand that these types of films are based more on fantasy, but when they're setting and staging is realistic as it gets, I just don't buy it. "The Proposal" manages to avoid this problem.
I dig both Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. They are both talented people and their on-screen charisma is, of course, awesome. What really surprised me is how great Bullock looks in the buff. Her accidental slip and slide scene that is shown in the trailers really shows off how father time has treated her well.
The supporting cast that includes Mary Steenburgen and Craig T. Nelson all do ho-hum work, but the real gem in this film is Betty White. Her 90-year-old grandmother character is a hoot, and will remind you of your own grandma.
It's not a bad summer release. Sure it's filled with clichés, but the filmmakers make it worthwhile. When my wife buys this on DVD, I'll probably stop whatever I'm doing and sit down and watch it again.
3 buckets.
