The Proposal is an average romantic comedy filled with extremely annoying, reoccurring cliches. Nothing comes off as surprising nor is the film emotionally involving. It’s a mediocre sappy romp that mildly succeeds at being watchable due to the likeable performances- mostly by Reynolds- at work, which prevents the film from being a total bore.
The film revolves around an up-and-coming assistant named Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) who hates his boss Margaret (Sandra Bullock). However, when Margaret realizes she faces deportation to Canada after failing to renew her visa, she decides to black mail Andrew into marrying her so she can keep her citizenship and job. Black mail? Forcing someone to marry you? Hilarity ensues. First, they must prove that they are a real couple so they don’t face legal action due to fraud. This forces the two to head off to Alaska for Andrew’s Grandma’s birthday to show that they are a real couple. On their trip they are forced to get along and, in the process, the love their faking may just start to be real…
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The story is simplistic on all accounts. The first two acts work fine even with all the predictability. Early on, most of the scenes just show Margaret and Andrew faking their love, awkward tension. All these moments of course are played for laughs and at times brink the point of repetitiveness, but all they all actually work since they can be quite funny at times. The comedic timing is mostly well done and very few of the jokes fall flat. That is where the film works perfectly fine as a B-movie typical romantic comedy, but then the third act slaps on the over-dramatic laughably cliche elements. There isn’t much believability as is in this relationship and third act is really where the film truly divulges into going all out on unbelievability.
The main problem is the bland script, which restricts the film from being an actual good romantic comedy. Everything from the cheap character arcs to the predictable plot points are just lazy. All the character actions feel contrived and unrealistic. The characters don’t act in accordance to their introductions; would Reynold’s character really fall for Bullock’s uptight persona? No. Would someone as smart as Andrew really go along with being blackmailed? Not likely. This is faux romance scenario is seen too often in films and it’s insanely bothersome. The third act’s problems come from the script and (SPOILER ALERT) ends with the fairy tale ending as expected. New ground could have been broken by going for a more realistic ending – something the film should have geared towards. It even features the always cringe inducing running to the airport scene.
All that being said, the acting is a different story. Reynolds is hilarious as usual and consistently watchable. He is a walking cliche, but he makes it work. All his jokes are funny and he makes for a likable lead. Also playing above and beyond her boring character is Bullock, who actually delivers a good performance. She plays the uptight prude exceptionally. She is charming and earns her fair share of laughs. Together, the they make the comic scenes work despite being stuck in an unbelievable dynamic. A real big disappointment is how wasted the great Craig T. Nelson is. He plays Reynold’s father and is mostly used for an unneeded subplot of him wanting Reynold’s character to take over the family business. It’s a shame to see such a refined actor stuck in such a thankless role.
With better material this could have been a much better film, but thankfully, Reynolds and even Bullock propel the film from wiildly mediocre to watchable. With such a vigorous amount of cliches this had “terrible film” written all over it – and yet, it isn’t half bad.