The Proposal

Because most Romantic Comedies are the exact same movie with different people and slightly different circumstances, the most important element is chemistry. Chemistry? Yeah, chemistry. If the two people who are supposed to fall in love have great on screen chemistry it can take a run of the mill ROMCOM and make it slightly better. The genre has been built on putting two people who hate each other in a place where they end up loving each other and if the two involved make it believable, the whole cliche is much easier to swallow. Hell, the entire reality television dating genre is built of the same premise that if you put people in close proximity to each other, love with eventually rule the day. So, Sandra Bullock came out of Romantic Comedy retirement for this, so you know she is game. She is a legend in the ROMCOM game. Ryan Reynolds has done a few Romantic Comedies, and the ladies do seem to love the man. He is charming, witty, pretty and ummm, well his abs don't hurt. This does not guarantee success though. It will only succeed if the two come together and spark.

In the world of book publishing, Margaret Tate(Bullock) is an evil witch who is incredible at her job. She is feared by everyone in her office to the point that when she gets to work, the office IM goes crazy with "It's here." Andrew Paxton(Reynolds) is her unsung assistant. He is a man who drinks the same coffee as her, just in case he spills hers, he can give her his. He is thoughtful and believes books can change the world, but he is stuck being her assistant and he hates every second of it. Instead of going home for his grandma's 90th birthday, he has to work over the weekend. He wants to quit, but he can't because he has been there for 3 years and he thinks eventually he will get to be an editor. Everything changes when Margaret find out she is going to be deported back to Canada and cannot continue her job. Instead of accepting that fate, she forces Andrew to marry her. Andrew uses her desperation as blackmail as well and gets that promotion to book editor, but first the couple has to make it through the weekend in Alaska with Andrew's family.

As it is a ROMCOM the results are painfully predictable, as are the supporting characters. Andrew's mother is sweet, his dad does not understand him, his grandma is a funny and hip old woman, and he has a sweet ex-girlfriend. If it sounds like 70other movies, it is. There is some slapstick, a funny scene involving a cute dog, goofy dancing, bedroom confessions and the all important public confession of love after all those schenanigans. Yet, Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock mostly won me over. Bullock does not quite nail the super-bitch she is supposed to be, and the first 30 minutes or so, she did nothing for me, but when the action switches to Alaska and the gorgeous castle of a house, Bullock's natural charm for being goofy pulls through. I was totally smitten by a scene where Bullock and Betty White are out in the wilderness doing a chant to the Earth and Bullock begins a serious booty dance, which would seem out of character except in another charming scene (The bedroom confession), Bullock's character confesses that her first concert was Rob Base and D.J Easy Rock. That bedroom confession scene is going to make or break this movie for people. It made it for me. Bullock does a wonderful job of letting us know why she is so cold and distant and Reynolds does his best to just allow the scene to happen.

For his part, Reynolds does his usual witty, slightly overly cute persona and he plays well with Bullock. His disdain at the beginning is easier to believe, than Bullock's bitch, but they both turn at the right moment. Reynold's does not get any real silly stuff to do, but he gets some great scenes with Craig T. Nelson who plays his father and it is important because when you see Andrew's house in Alaska, you will wonder why he left. Then he has these scenes with his not-so-nice father and you kind of understand. He does enough to make the girls swoon and of course, there is the naked scene, where both he and Bullock are very impressive and both are kind of sticky, him from sweat and her from just getting out of the shower. It is a scene played for appropriate laughs, but it is also kind of hot to see two well toned naked bodies crash into each other.

Betty White makes quick work of owning the movie with every scene she is in and she does it without being the typical vulgar grandma so common place in movies these days. She is cool and hip, but not vulgar or crass. She is a sweet old lady with brutally perfect comic timing and really works her way into our hearts at the same time she is working her way into Bullock's heart. In fact, it is their short scene together that really sells the climax for me. It is in that moment you can see something shift.

The Proposal is not going to set the ROMCOM genre on fire with originality, but it is relatively charming and by the end I was won over. Bullock and Reynolds are cute together and it is almost a shame they did not fall in love until the movie was almost over. I know a lot of people think the movie is hilarious and I cannot share that sentiment, save for a few scenes, but it was funny enough to hold my attention, but it is a movie that mostly survives and charm and luckily the two leads have it in spades.

Final Grade: B-