The Proposal: Review By slysnide

It seemed as if there was a lot of hype for this movie. Perhaps because she hadn't appeared in a leading role in a decent film for seven years. Maybe not, but I doubt Betty White's unexpected turn up in the film fueled the hype too much.

The typical comedy situation follows the idea of the tormentor--as seen through Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock), an executive editor of a publishing company--being forced to solely rely on their tortured--as seen through her assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds)--to keep the position of power they currently have. In this case, an immigrations issue in which she must get her assistant to agree to pretend that they're engaged so that she'd avoid being deported to Canada. The catch is that she must endure a weekend at Andrew's parent's house in Sitka, Alaska where the ruse must be cautiously played out to the satisfaction of the immigrations agent Mr. Gilbertson (Dennis O'Hare). The difference from the typical version of such a comedy being that rather than the oppressed directly tormenting the tormentor, Andrew instead just leaves her to herself and the mercy of his excited family whom must find out the truth sooner or later at her behest.

Supporting roles include Craig T. Nelson as Andrew's father Joe, Mary Steenburgen as his mother Grace, and Betty White as his ninety year old grandmother Annie. I myself really enjoyed this ensemble since all of them are seldom seen in big mainstream films anymore. Lastly there's Malin Akerman as Andrew's ex-girlfriend Gertrude, and Oscar Nunez as the ever present citizen Ramone whom is seen filling several different jobs in Sitka throughout the film, including a waiter at the Paxton's welcoming party for Andrew, and a stripper at a local exotic bar. He basically adds to the meager comedy, as he and Betty get the most laughs, for while Margaret's woes are funny, they're not very laugh out loud funny which is what a comedy should be through and through. But the supporting cast was still more surprising than in most comedies.

The setting however is nearly three and a half thousand miles away from the filming locations in and around Cape Ann, Massachusetts which is decent overall. But given the lack outdoor scenes in both Sitka & NYC, the isolated wilderness, or totally alien location that's implied given the distance between the locations isn't taken advantage of by writer Pete Chiarelli, despite that Margaret's reaction to the news suggests otherwise.

As usual, Betty White gets the best moments in the film, and is one of the only elements within it that make it memorable. For other than her, this was just another average comedy, with a tinge of romance as implied by the title.