Rom-com disaster...likable players lost in an ocean of inanities

Rating: 3/10 (23 July 2010)

The resident dragon lady at a New York City publishing house will be deported back to her native Canada if she doesn't marry her male secretary, who despises her. Woebegone romantic material from screenwriter Peter Chiarelli, who flails away with the most obvious gags. For the first hour, Sandra Bullock (who also served as executive producer) and Ryan Reynolds testily badger each other, culminating with Bullock threatening her would-be fiancé with castration (that joke never was very funny). The final 47 minutes suddenly turn warm and fuzzy--nothing surprising about that, though the two stars are obviously more comfortable with this territory. Chiarelli is so hung up on his laugh-lines that he never does get around to creating engaging or appealing characters; despite a friendly cast, the emphasis is not on the people but on the jokes. Setting the entire second act in Alaska (during summer solstice with constant sunlight) doesn't really work, either...it's too disconcerting for an assembly-line comedy. The two protagonists attempt to fool the assistant's large, bustling family with their sham engagement...and wouldn't you know it? His parents decide they should get married right then and there (in the barn--it's a tradition after all!). "The Proposal" is a continual cop-out without an ounce of wit, coasting on Bullock's built-in good will and even reprising some of her former movie highlights (like a Greatest Hits package). It's a laughless affair. *1/2 from ****