The Proposition
Tags: romantic, murder, flashback

Plot synopsis:
Set in the Australian outback in the 1880s, the movie follows a series of events following the horrific rape and murder of the Hopkins family, likely committed by the infamous Burns brothers gang.
The film opens in a remote wood building with a violent gunfight between the police and Charlie Burns' (Guy Pearce) gang, which ends with the deaths of all of the gang members except for Charlie and his younger brother Mikey. Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) makes a proposition to Charlie: he and the feeble-minded Mikey can go free of the crimes they have committed if Charlie kills his older brother, Arthur (Danny Huston). Arthur is a mercurial psychopath who is so vicious the Aboriginal tribes refer to him as "The Dog Man" and both the police and the Aborigines refuse to go near his camp. Captain Stanley states his intention to civilize the harsh Australian wilderness by bringing Arthur to justice and using Mikey as leverage. Charlie has nine days to find and kill Arthur, or else Mikey will be hanged from the gallows on Christmas Day.
Captain Stanley's motivations for taming Australia are revealed: he has been forced to move there with his delicate wife, Martha Stanley (Emily Watson), and apparently wants to make it a safer place for them to live. The Stanleys were friends of the Hopkins family, leading Martha to have nightmares about her dead friends. Word spreads of Stanley's deal with Charlie, primarily from Stanley's corrupt subordinate, Sergeant Lawrence (Robert Morgan), causing disgust among the townspeople.
Shortly thereafter, Eden Fletcher (David Wenham), for whom Captain Stanley works, orders that Mikey be given one hundred lashes as punishment for the rape and murder of the Hopkins family. Stanley is aghast at this, not only because he believes Mikey is likely innocent and the flogging may kill him or harm him irreparably, but also because it will break his deal with Charlie and bring the Burns gang's revenge upon him and his wife. Stanley sends Sergeant Lawrence away with tracker Jacko (David Gulpillil) and other men to "investigate" the reported slaying of Dan O'Riley by a group of Aborigines.
Meanwhile, Charlie rides in search of Arthur, drinking and apparently reflecting. Along the way, he encounters an inebriated old man named Jellon Lamb (John Hurt). In the course of conversation, Charlie realizes that Lamb is a bounty hunter in pursuit of the Burns brothers and knocks him out. Later on, after sleeping on a rock bed, Charlie awakes and is speared in the chest by a group of Aboriginal men standing over him. Seconds later a gunshot is heard and the head of the man who threw the spear explodes. Charlie then passes out.
Charlie wakes up in the camp of his brother Arthur, located in caves among desolate mountains. Arthur's gang consists of Samuel Stoat (Tom Budge), who shot the Aboriginal man who had speared Charlie; a woman named Queenie (Leah Purcell) who tends to Charlie's wound; and a muscular Aboriginal man called Two-Bob (Tom E. Lewis). As he recovers from his wounds, Charlie has several opportunities to kill his brother, but does not.
Captain Stanley attempts to defend Mikey by gunpoint from the bloodthirsty townspeople, but is overruled once Martha arrives, insisting on revenge for her dead friends. Mikey is brutally flogged and horrifically wounded. The formerly excited townspeople slowly become disgusted and Martha faints at the ghastly display. Captain Stanley grabs the whip and throws it at Fletcher, staining him with blood. Fletcher fires Stanley.
Near Arthur's camp, Sergeant Lawrence and his men have found and butchered a group of Aborigines. Arthur and Two-Bob find Lawrence's group while they sleep and kill Jacko and Sergeant Lawrence. Before Arthur stomps Lawrence to death, Lawrence tells Arthur that Charlie has been sent to kill him. Jellon Lamb enters Arthur's camp and ties up Samuel and Charlie, both of whom are sleeping. Lamb is shot from behind by the returning Two-Bob. Arthur then begins torturing the still-living Lamb with a knife. Charlie points his revolver at Arthur, but instead shoots Jellon in the head, putting him out of his misery.
Charlie decides he wants to break out Mikey and informs Arthur. Arthur, Samuel and Charlie ride into town dressed in the clothes taken from the officers Arthur and Two-Bob had killed, while Two-Bob poses as an Aborigine they have captured. Once at the jail, the men free Mikey, and Charlie and Two-Bob ride off with him. Arthur and Samuel remain to torture and slaughter the two officers inside the jail. The badly injured Mikey, who has never recovered from the flogging, dies in Charlie's arms. As they bury Mikey, Two-Bob tells Charlie that all of this is Charlie's fault: "You should never have left us."
Captain Stanley and Martha let their guard down to have a peaceful Christmas dinner. Immediately following their conclusion of grace, Arthur and Samuel shoot open the door and invade their home. Arthur pulls Captain Stanley into the other room and brutally beats him, while Samuel taunts his wife. Samuel drags Martha inside, and Arthur shoots Captain Stanley through the shoulder. As Samuel assaults Martha, Charlie walks in and informs Arthur of Mikey's death; Arthur ignores the news and encourages Charlie to listen to Samuel's beautiful singing. Charlie walks up to Samuel and shoots him point blank in the head, then shoots Arthur twice, saying afterward, "No more." Arthur staggers out of the house. Charlie tells Captain Stanley "I want to be with my brother." He leaves the house and follows a trail of blood to find Arthur seated on the ground nearby and sits down next to him. Arthur states that Charlie has finally stopped him and asks what he will do now, to no answer, and dies as his brother watches the blood red sunset of the outback.

Review: But it kept me watching, fascinated, for two hours (including commercials), and at the end I felt like I wanted to spend more time with it.
It has romance, elegant atmosphere, a surprising plot,  intriguing themes, and good actors...so, while the pacing and direction sometimes seem a touch stilted, I'd definitely watch it again.I'm a bit baffled that everyone who finds fault with this film picks on the story.
For me, the story was the strong point: it had some truly surprising twists and grew from the complexities and relationships of a range of fully drawn characters--a luxury most films, with their flat cardboard characters, don't offer.
In the world of the film, where even a seemingly perfect husband could with no warning transform into a tyrant, even a woman who thought she had it all could be trapped by a paucity of choices.That makes it sound like a preachy feminist movie, which it isn't.
I do not think a lot of the comments from other reviewers really see the value of the movie, or look at it from all of the character's points or motives.
William Hurt as Barret is totally selfless in his quest for a family and Madeline Stowe as his wife is also very convincing.
The big surprise comes from Blythe Danner, although I really cannot figure out exactly what her role was--is she secretly in love with Hurt?
Though there may have been some inconsistencies to real life, I enjoyed the movie and so did my friends and acquaintances...I was taken by the snowball effect...though some scenes could have been done differently...I accept it for exactly what it is...movie drama, not real life...some scenes were predictable and some I never saw coming...I was impressed with the job interview...the job...and then the transition from BOY to MANHHOOD and then the snowball effect that changes the lives of all persons involved including the priest...for me personally...the movie was well done...I am sure it could have been better but so could every movie once it has been seen and critiqued...GOOD JOB!.
I still want to see the western, but this was not a bad misdirection.Whoever cast A History of Violence had to see this film as William Hurt plays the same character in both films - marvelously, I might add.
He wants to give his wife (Madeleine Stowe in a great performance) a child and Viagra was not yet invented, so he hires someone (Neil Patrick Harris) to do the job.
OK, so we have a moral question here, but we ignore that for the movies sake.Into his parish comes a new priest (Kenneth Branagh) and he jumps the Rabbit-Proof Fence, uses The Magic Flute, and we have an Alien Love Triangle.
And, no children were hurt in the making of this film.There are some fine performances and an interesting story.
I think it is better seen at home where you can go back and watch portions over again, because in some scenes you must hear every word and pay attention to body language and expression quite closely or the plot can easily lose you.
Bad acting or directing would have made this movie impossible to understand, because the writing is extremely subtle.
I love this movie, and am very sad not to be able to watch it since my VHS player broke.
I like to watch it once or twice a year, and enjoy sharing it with friends who have not seen it.
I will continue to look for it on DVD every several months, and I will be looking to fix or replace my VHS player just so I can watch this and one other movie that I also love and can't get on DVD..
With such a fine cast, and a great story, the producers and the directors should have taken time to be more accurate and correct about details.
Love it or hate it, and the opinions seem to be pretty evenly divided, this is a compelling film because of the performances of three fine actors--Kenneth Branagh, Madeline Stowe, and William Hurt.
The story is incredibly far-fetched but, a la Six Feet Under, because it deals with emotions and fantasies we've all felt, it works in some sort of quirky way.Madeline Stowe is absolutely radiant--confused, vulnerable, strong, passionate.
Watch it for the actors, and weep for the film..
Great actors, good story - what went wrong?
I never know where the character starts and the typical William Hurt begins (he did a great job though, I was almost convinced).
The movie deals with death and I couldn't help grieving because this could have been such a great film.
(their love scene could have been sooo much better).Like I said, I kept wondering "What went wrong?" : The actors were exemplary (probably to overcompensate for the movie's weaknesses).
I don't know much about the art of movie-making (movie-watching, maybe) but I think even a seasoned film professional will watch this movie with tears after seeing such a great cast and good concept go to waste.
(With Brannagh, Stowe and everyone in it, except Hurt and Danner)- yeah right!The other option is for it to remain as a prime example of when great acting meets a good movie idea, but the sparks just don't fly.Watch it for the actors, and weep for the film..
How can you hate a movie that has Kenneth Branagh, as a Catholic priest, who has given in to the weakness of the flesh, saying, "I began to know God thru Elenore...it was she who taught me about faith." Or Kenneth Branagh saying to William Hurt, "You know you needen't feel guilty about this, THE SUN SHINES HERE TOO."(italics, mine) All kidding aside, the cast could have sleepwalked thru this somewhat cliched drama of a wealthy, staid older millionaire, resorting to having a jerk impegnate his beautiful young wife to keep the family line going, having the jerk end up dead, and the beautiful wife meets a charming local priest,,,and then...you know ..and so forth.
But what saves the movie, are the acting "chops" of this steller cast: Branagh, William Hurt, the beauteous Madeline Stowe, and Blythe Danner.
William Hurt definitely has acting greatness in him.
Blythe Danner works steadily on Broadway and surely deserves an award for a lifetime of top level acting, on the stage, and in the movie house.
All in all I enjoyed this film and recommend it to fans of the above great performers.
If you like movies based on Dad's boss making him take in the boss's chimp for the weekend, just when the hated insufferable in-laws are coming for a barbeque, and the kids decide to dress up the chimp as Ben Laden, and the fox terrier next door tries to mate with the chimp and start a REAL family, even if the local DA says chimp /terrier unions are heretical to the basic man/women setup, and...
You know there must be a problem when a recent film appears on TV with a cast that includes William Hurt, Kenneth Branagh, Madeleine Stowe, Robert Loggia and Blythe Danner and you've never heard of it.
One of the previous comments summed this film up far better than I could but I would still like someone to tell me who the hell is Blythe Danner supposed to be?
I'm certainly not going to watch it again just to find out..However, by far the saddest thing about this movie is watching talent like Blythe Danner, Madeleine Stowe and William Hurt being wasted in rubbish like this (I didn't miss out Mr Branagh by accident , incidentally).
Stowe is beautiful to watch but she was mis-cast in this one.
Watch it, enjoy it, then turn off the TV and make love to whomever is with you..
I'd still rather watch Kenneth Branaugh in a mediocre film, than not see his work at all.The Proposition has numerous weak spots- primarily the storyline.
Talented high-powered actors, plus high production values, minusa dreadful slow-moving story, equals a major waste of time andmoney.
Someone once said that it is impossible to extract a good film out of a bad script.
The script is really very weak, beginning with the absurd situation of Kenneth Branagh telling the story to Robert Loggia when it was Loggia who witnessed the initial facts, Branagh not being present.
Most of all, the whole cast led by William Hurt and Kenneth Branagh imbue their characters with such a high degree of dignity and seriousness that makes us think of one of those good Bette Davis vehicles..
After having an extra-marital affair with an attractive Roman Catholic priest we are expected to believe that all of a sudden Eleanor falls in love with her wimpy husband again?
Only good thing about the film was the music, but even that got on your nerves at times.
A movie I'll watch at least once a year..
I feel like a freak because I just watched this film and thought it was wonderful.
I'm asking this because I thought the movie "Michael" directed by Nora Ephron was also wonderful and the people around me thought it was full of clichés, the same comment at least one critic made of "The Proposition".
The acting was superb, the story thoroughly human,i.e., convoluted, winding, illogical, full of distress remorse and anger, but mostly about the beautiful, ugly or neutral ways we humans love.
This is one of those rare movies I'll watch at least once a year, clichés or not..
is it his discomfort acting in somebody else's film, or his uneasiness of the director being "Shakespeare's Sister"?Well, "The Proposition" has indeed many weak spots, being a period flick, but primarily it doesn't have a goal.
Though I believe that especially Arthur (the unmistakable William Hurt) was a well-developed character, even he doesn't fit in the storms stirring dark waters of his family.
Oddly enough, I really fell for William Hurt and Madeleine Stowe in this film.
Wanting so much for his wife to have a child, but sterile himself, Hurt's character Arthur Barret arranges for a young Ivy League student (played by Neil Patrick Harris) to sleep with his wife as long as it takes to impregnate her.
William Hurt is an excellent actor and the storyline of the loves, entwined among the various characters was very moving.
All the cinematic fringe areas of this film are terrific, set design, costuming, hair, wigs and Kenneth Branagh, but what this film lacks is a stimulating plot, an appealing story line and enough electrifying dialogue to keep us awake.Confusion about who is the main character versus who is the film's antagonist forces us to close our eyes to ponder but since the dialogue direly needs a few more rewrite drafts before our ears unclog it's all just too much work.The acting is erratic at best.
Up against the Shakespearian Kenneth Branagh William Hurt manages to stay afloat but Madeline Stowe sounds like she's screeching her lines most of the time.Considering the dialogue she's saddled with you can't blame her for being histrionic.Faced with the decision of going out or staying in the choice is obvious.It's a lot easier to stay home and do a crossword puzzle..
I found this movie to be very powerful, with strong performances from most of  the cast.
I think besides Jesus Christ himself and God almighty the rest of us realize this is a groundbreaking film that is meant to enjoy, Kenneth Branagh, Madeleine Stowe and William Hurt all deserve credit for excellent performances.
1st watched 01/10/1999 - 7 out of 10(Dir-Lesli Linka Glatter): Uneven at times in it's format, but otherwise very well acted and filmed story of surrogate pregnancy involving a Catholic priest.
The acting by Branagh lifts this film above mediocrity..
I felt the casting was good and Madeline Stowe's character in particular was easy to relate to.
As for William Hurt, such a somber and sympathetic character could be compared to the likes of Heathcliffe...so full of longing and unfulfilled dreams.
The script of Rick Ramage has so many turns and twists that the story looks like a mixture of real life and a religious novel.
The actor Kenneth Branagh (father Michael McKinnon) gives a more value to the movie.
I think that one must be a catholic to really understand the complexities of the movie involving the problem of couples not having children and the significance of marriage and above all the importance of purity for priests..
This movie was no Shakespeare, but I was drawn into each character, wanting to know what was going to happen to them each second of the movie.
If you don't like Kenneth Branagh, this movie and "Hamlet" might just change your mind..
I think the acting was superb and the characters and the story were incredible.
I loved watching the story unwind.
Their love produce twins that are seen at the end of the film going with their great uncle to the altar as he is going to receive communion from the real father of the boys.One wonders what is Kenneth Branagh doing in this thing?
This is a film that will be cherished by lovers of soap opera and hated by others that might stumble into this movie thinking it's better, based on the names of the people involved in it.
Although this film contains few surprises the performances by the principle cast members are all very strong.
William Hurt gives a fine performance as a staid and reserved husband to Madeline Stowe who in turn gives a wonderfully involved performance as a woman struggling both with her own intellect and identity as well as her faith as a Roman Catholic.Kenneth Branagh is also compelling in the role of a Roman Catholic priest.
Fine supporting performances from Blythe Danner and Neil Patrick Harris round out the cast.The film itself is a quiet movie in which the story is allowed to unwind at a leisurely pace.
The characters drive the movie, which is rare.Although the movie lacks the subtle beauty of a Merchant/Ivory production, it does remind me of their films in some ways, though at times I got the feeling that the film makers where trying a little to hard for that sort of feeling without quite knowing how to achieve it.
Some of the film, particularly the outside sequences felt too much as if they were shot with a TV screen in mind.The weakness of the film, I think, is that I couldn't quite believe the story that develops between Branagh and Stowe.
Without giving too much away, their relationship somehow never quite rang true.Still, over all, a film worth seeing; especially for fans of William Hurt..
The script is pretty weak, and that's probably why the movie went straight to video, but the actors are much better than the parts, making the movie worth watching.
Kenneth Branaugh is always good, and William Hurt expresses just the right amount of emotion for his strained character.
The third group feels that although it has a great cast and is well acted, it has a deeply flawed story.
The story is told in flashback by Kenneth Branagh's character Father Michael McKinnon.
He wants to concentrate on helping the poor, but also wants to avoid the Barrets, the richest and most influential family in the parish.Eleanor Barret, played by Madeleine Stowe, and her husband, the powerful Arthur Barret, played by William Hurt, are unable to have children due to Arthur's infertility.
Eleanor falls pregnant, but young Roger finds that he enjoyed the work so much that he would like to continue working for free – he begins to make a pest of himself, and threatens to expose the deal, all of which leads to unexpected developments.While this unfolds, Father McKinnon, no longer able to avoid the Barret's dinner invitations, announces that he is in fact Arthur Barret's nephew.
The sight of Father McKinnon in full clerical garb pashing Aunt Eleanor is far removed from Hollywood's classic depictions of priests in films such as "Going My Way" and "The Miracle of the Bells".
Some of the script is good, and some of it not so good.....Major spoilers ahead:The film does gloss over very quickly the healing and "falling in love again" that occurs between Hurt and Stowe as husband and wife.
It's as though Stowe and Branagh have a period of close friendship, then a very brief and passionate affair, and then in the next scene we are supposed to believe they got over each other almost immediately?
There is no transition from THEIR mutual love to the renewed love and passion that Stowe feels for her husband, played by Hurt.
And he's happy to just be a priest and watch her raise his kid as Hurt's child?
Hurt was very good I thought.Definitely a soap opera and the plot strains one's belief in places, but enjoyable overall.
I'm still waiting for Kenneth Branagh to give a really bad performance.
The father will raise them as his in the full recollection of the woman he loved and in the total ignorance, at least proffered ignorance of who is the father.And we are back at the beginning of the film when the lawyer who is dealing with the will of the husband has to come to the priest and ask for his benediction and the full explanation.
The husband did know the truth and the priest can remember all these Sundays when he gave communion to the father and the two twins who were in fact his own twin sons.Melodramatic and maybe effective to show what love can be in a man who cannot perform his procreative role.
Kenneth Branaugh is a wonderful actor as are all the other characters.
Oh yes, William Hurt and Blythe Danner.
[Possible SPOILER]I picked this film out of a used-vhs bin basically because it had Kenneth Branagh in it.
The characters are interesting, the sets are visually appealing, and the casting is phenomenal--William Hurt, Blythe Danner, Madeleine Stowe, Robert Loggia, etc.