MYeah's review: The Proposal

Rating: 6/10 (24 June 2010)

While the movie does make for an interesting premise, it's only moderately successful.
The film stars Bullock and Reynolds respectively as Margaret Tate, a very pushy boss, and Andrew Paxton, her tortured assistant. After discovering that she is about to be deported back to Canada, Margaret hatches a plan to stay in the country, she decides to marry Andrew so she may keep her citizenship. Andrew agrees to this only if Margaret gives him a promotion. To further keep up the facade, they both travel to Alaska to meet Andrew's family, and announce the news. This includes Andrew's pushy father (Played by Craig T. Nelson), his very loving mother (Played by Mary Steenburgen), and his all around peculiar grandmother (Played by Betty White).
The film relies on a lot of formula. Two leads who hate each other at the start, one hatches a plan to obtain something they want, The two begin to understand that they do love one another, and I'll let you figure out the rest. It's not a very original story, but it's better than most formula movies, and at the very least fast paced.
The movie at least gets it performances right. Bullock and Reynolds are not only good in their roles, but have such great chemistry together. The rest of the cast such as Nelson, Steenburgen, and others aren't really as good. Even Betty White, who while good in the film, lacks a great deal of her always brilliant comedic presence.
So while it suffers from a predictable story, it benefits from two good lead performances.
I give The Proposal **1/2 out of ****