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I have a proposal for you—leave your preconceptions
at the door and all the negative reviews you’ve heard about
this romantic comedy. Is it formulaic? Yep. It’s also extremely
funny and enjoyable. This film wasn’t designed to be an
earthshaking attempt to alter the paradigm of romantic comedies.
It’s meant to be taken at face value and at that value it
has excellent performances from Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds,
Craig T. Nelson, Malin Akerman and Betty White among others.
***
A high powered editor (Bullock) originally from Canada
at a big New York publishing house finds out she’s being
deported and going to lose her job. She blackmails her assistant
(Reynolds) into agreeing to marry her and, in return, agrees
she’ll make him an editor. The only problem is the INS agent
who immediate states that he’s suspicious and her beau’s
family who live in…Alaska the land of alternating light
and darkness. The two must not only sell the INS agent that
this is a legit wedding but his family as well. ***
Featuring breezy direction by Anne Fletcher (“27 Dresses”,
“Step Up”) and some witty one-liners from writer Pete Chiarelli,
“The Proposal” works best when it focuses on the fish-out-of-water
aspects of Bullock’s character and the awkwardness between
her and Reynolds character. As I’m sure others have noted
it’s interesting that Canadian Reynolds is cast as the U.S.
citizen while U.S. citizen Bullock is cast as the foreigner.
***
The main flaw with this enjoyable romantic comedy is
the unwritten supporting roles; it’s hard (aside from her
looks) to see why Reynolds character passed on Malin Akerman
(who is wasted in her role)for the bright lights and big
city of New York publishing. Heck, with the family fortune
(the family is quite wealthy and owns just about everything
in town) HE could have brought New York to Alaska and started
his own publishing house. That’s a different story though.
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Image & Sound:
“The Proposal” has a sharp presentation on Blu-ray.
Detail is extremely good. I was surprised at the choice
for the subdued color scheme for the beautiful Alaskan scenery
when I saw this in theaters and am still puzzled as to this
choice. Skin tone are warmer than I expected as well not
at all what I would consider “natural” but they still pass
muster. ***
Audio sounds exceptionally good with dialogue front
and center in the audio presentation. The 5.1 mix really
doesn’t come to life unless we’re watching a street scene
in New York or during some of the outdoors scenes in Alaska.
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