It ain't great, but I liked it more than I thought I would

Rating: 4/10 (27 June 2009)

Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. They hate each other. They are forced to spend time with each other. Despite a few obstacles, boy and girl realize the other isn't as bad as they initially thought. Boy and girl grow to like each other in an unrealistically short amount of time. Just when they are about to be together, another obstacle is tossed in their way. Boy and girl overcome obstacle and kiss. The end.
That is essentially the formula for pretty much any Hollywood studio romantic-comedy and "The Proposal" is about as Hollywood studio as it gets.
The trouble with romantic comedies is that even before the screenwriter can type "Fade In" on his script, he knows the audience already knows the ending to his story. So he has to make the journey enjoyable and, more often than not, the journey doesn't quite work or fails miserably, as is the case in "My Life in Ruins," for instance. True, "The Proposal" is not nearly as disastrous or dull as the Nia Vardalos film, but that isn't saying much now, is it?
The journey in "The Proposal" is awfully clichéd and unwinds almost exactly how and when one of those hackneyed screen writing gurus would want the plot to unfold. However, what eventually saves "The Proposal" are its two stars - Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Together, they don't have much chemistry - you wanna see real on-screen chemistry in romantic comedies, watch Carole Lombard and William Powell in "My Man Godfrey" (1936) or Lombard and Fredric March in "Nothing Sacred" (1937) or Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in "Bringing Up Baby" (1938) or Grant and Rosalind Russell in "His Girl Friday" (1940) - but, individually, Reynolds and Bullock have charm, charisma and an innate ability to keep us interested.
This material is beneath Bullock. She can play these roles in her sleep and, I suppose, the lack of success of her more dramatic films - some have been utter duds and "Crash" (2004) does not count because she was just part of a huge ensemble and not the lead - forces her to continue seeking romantic comedies. After all, she is the woman who turned down "Million Dollar Baby" (2004) so she could star in "Miss Congeniality 2" (2005).
Bullock has a nice knack for comedy and does admirably here, given the limitations of the script. It's nothing we haven't seen from her before and perhaps it's that familiarity that brings about a semblance of charm to this picture. Reynolds tends to be a bit of a one-note player but, here again, it's an engaging little note. In his defense, he does have a fine sense of comedic timing and can turn an otherwise conventional line into something funny. Malin Akerman shows up in a throw-away role that she tries valiantly to make bigger.
You are not going to see anything in "The Proposal" that is unpredictable or you haven't seen in countless romantic comedies before. But Reynolds and Bullock bring an energy to the film that made me like it much more than I thought I would. It made me cringe in some places, when I saw screenwriter Pete Chiarelli trying so desperately to eke out laughs because he couldn't drum up anything original.
There's plenty of terrific comedic stuff to be mined here - immigration, older woman-younger man, workaholic bosses and much more - but Chiarelli is thoroughly content on sticking strictly to convention. And, given the lack of sizzle between Bullock and Reynolds together, he entrenches his script in formula. So we are treated to forced-funny moments - a "remedy" screenwriters seek in romantic comedies that rarely works - of seeing the wonderful Betty White doing some sort of American Indian tribal dance in the woods and Bullock hamming it up, and the over-use of Ramone (Oscar Nunez), making him the film's most annoying and unfunny character. We also get needless subplots, including a father-son conflict. I told you: It's as if Chiarelli kept referring to some screen writing handbook.
Anne Fletcher's direction is an uninspired as her previous effort, "27 Dresses" (2008). On the other hand, "The Proposal" is a more enjoyable film than "27 Dresses."
What's ultimately disappointing about "The Proposal" is that despite having essentially smart characters, it gives them nothing smart to do. What a pity. It was, however, refreshing to see an older woman-younger man relationship on film. After sitting through Catherine Zeta-Jones falling for Sean Connery or Nicolas Cage in bed with Jessica Biel or Harrison Ford romancing Anne Heche or Clint Eastwood hooking up with Rene Russo, it's about time we saw the flip side. And as for the well-choreographed - and much talked about - nude scene in "The Proposal," there's one thing you can certainly say: Bullock: has one heck of a body.