Low marks for plot and dialog

Rating: 4/10 (15 November 2009)

I rented "The Proposal," which I'd been wanting to see, at one of those $1 kiosks. If I'd paid real money, I'd be disgusted with myself. With a cast of very good actors, including Sandra Bullock, whose movies I never miss, it didn't fly. I gave it a 4 because the actors were good, except Bullock, though they had little to work with. Dialogue was annoyingly trite as was the plot (or lack thereof). Ryan Reynolds made this movie happen, supported by "Gammy," Betty White, who was hilarious. The character Bullock played was unlikable through nearly the whole movie. In one scene she tries to get an eagle to snatch the world's cutest puppy so the eagle will give her back her cell phone!! How can anyone have thought that a funny scene? And she pretends to be terrified of the puppy as well, which is not realistic. She cannot bounce back from the beginning which shows her as a much-hated editor at a big publishing firm. That simply does not change, despite the fact that she professes a change of heart towards the end of the movie--the writers have made the change too drastic and sudden to be believable. Weak, weak, weak. . . except for Reynolds and the supporting actors. Even Bullock couldn't do anything with this dialog. Reynolds, on the other hand, was a pleasure to watch, giving the only zest to the obligatory nude scene, which was as contrived and trite as the rest of the plot. I'd give this one a miss!!