High Def Forum - Your High Definition Community & High Definition Resource - View Single Post - Marlowe at the Movies: THE PROPOSAL (Touchstone)

Peter Marlowe · 07-02-2009, 12:43 AM

HERE COMES THE BRIBE...

This was like a parallel universe for the screenplay of Bullock's early sapster While You Were Sleeping -- right down to the final sequence where she walks down an aisle to get married in a hideous looking bridal gown but yet the entire thing is a fake.

The last time I nearly vomited Captain Crunch into my lap watching anything Ryan Reynolds was in came when he starred -- completely inaccurately -- in the remake of Stuart Rosenberg's The Amityville Horror. In that ridiculously inaccurate re-telling of the Lutz family and their ordeal in Amityville, New York's famous haunted Dutch Colonial, Reynolds was completely miscast as George Lutz, co-owner of 112 Ocean Avenue (which was changed in the remake). While Lutz NEVER boasted a six-pack stomach nor hacked his own dog to death in real life, Reynolds was so entirely odd in the casting that it bordered on inhuman. Fast-forward to wedding season, 2009: Reynolds again finds himself in an implausible situation (this time with the plot of a film, not a casting mistake) when he portrays an overworked "personal assistant" to a bitchy publishing executive played by Sandra Bullock. With themes mixed between The Devil Wears Prada and New in Town, The Proposal borrowed heavily from both films, mainly in the way Bullock's character finds herself on an Alaskan island with stilletos and Louis Vutton luggage but with no clue as to navigate the terrain.

Let's go back a bit: The Proposal centers around Reynolds and the abuse he takes from Bullock, until Bullock is called into her boss' office to be told her Visa has been rejected for residency in the U.S. (she's from Canada). In a frenzy to remedy this so she doesn't lose her high powered job at the publishing firm in New York, she quickly devises a scheme to have Reynolds marry her. Against his will, she joins him in a weekend trip to his family in Alaska, where father Craig T. Nelson and mom (played by Ted Danson's wife) AND Grandma Betty White are all told of their sudden engagement. Meanwhile, an INS agent threatens them should they be lying about their marriage and if it's just a scheme to get Bullock to stay in the U.S., they're both in big trouble.

Once in Alaska, the film suddenly becomes While You Were Sleeping all over again, where Reynold's weird family take to Bullock -- right down to Betty White doing a grind dance with her in the woods to some rap song while White dons some Indian feathers and blankets...I'm NOT kidding. What follows is the typical blueprint for this type of film -- Bullock ends up telling the family the truth just before their "mock" marriage in Alaska (just like in Sleeping) and even though they both blackmailed each other to keep their jobs (in Reynold's case, a raise to Editor position if he goes through with this fake wedding to prove Bullock's case to INS), Bullock goes into the INS agent's custody and prepares to be deported. But, alas -- Reynolds is really in love with his boss! And so even through flirting with his ex in Alaska, he flies back to New York just in time to catch Bullock packing her things in her office at their publishing company. Of course, the two of them share their feelings for each other in front of a plethora of cubicle workers, kiss passionately and decide to get married to each other -- FOR REAL.

The Proposal makes you wonder just how far someone would go to secure a job or get a raise in this world -- and it's pathetic. I know I personally wouldn't succumb to the tactics outlined here, no matter how good the pay was; there's such a thing as pride. The semantics are ridiculously obvious and predictable in the film, but the actions are just unrealistic -- I mean, your boss wouldn't make out with you in front of dozens of co-workers and agree to marry you while the two of you wonder what you're going to do for work.

At any rate, the fiancé wants the Blu-ray or DVD when it comes out, so unfortunately, I have to put this on my shelf -- but there is a nice usage of Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock's "It Takes Two" in the film!

07-02-2009, 12:43 AM	#1
Peter Marlowe Blu-ray Reviewer Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2,257	Marlowe at the Movies: THE PROPOSAL (Touchstone) *HERE COMES THE BRIBE...* This was like a parallel universe for the screenplay of Bullock's early sapster While You Were Sleeping -- right down to the final sequence where she walks down an aisle to get married in a hideous looking bridal gown but yet the entire thing is a fake. The last time I nearly vomited Captain Crunch into my lap watching anything Ryan Reynolds was in came when he starred -- completely inaccurately -- in the remake of Stuart Rosenberg's The Amityville Horror. In that ridiculously inaccurate re-telling of the Lutz family and their ordeal in Amityville, New York's famous haunted Dutch Colonial, Reynolds was completely miscast as George Lutz, co-owner of 112 Ocean Avenue (which was changed in the remake). While Lutz NEVER boasted a six-pack stomach nor hacked his own dog to death in real life, Reynolds was so entirely odd in the casting that it bordered on inhuman. Fast-forward to wedding season, 2009: Reynolds again finds himself in an implausible situation (this time with the plot of a film, not a casting mistake) when he portrays an overworked "personal assistant" to a bitchy publishing executive played by Sandra Bullock. With themes mixed between The Devil Wears Prada and New in Town, The Proposal borrowed heavily from both films, mainly in the way Bullock's character finds herself on an Alaskan island with stilletos and Louis Vutton luggage but with no clue as to navigate the terrain. Let's go back a bit: The Proposal centers around Reynolds and the abuse he takes from Bullock, until Bullock is called into her boss' office to be told her Visa has been rejected for residency in the U.S. (she's from Canada). In a frenzy to remedy this so she doesn't lose her high powered job at the publishing firm in New York, she quickly devises a scheme to have Reynolds marry her. Against his will, she joins him in a weekend trip to his family in Alaska, where father Craig T. Nelson and mom (played by Ted Danson's wife) AND Grandma Betty White are all told of their sudden engagement. Meanwhile, an INS agent threatens them should they be lying about their marriage and if it's just a scheme to get Bullock to stay in the U.S., they're both in big trouble. Once in Alaska, the film suddenly becomes While You Were Sleeping all over again, where Reynold's weird family take to Bullock -- right down to Betty White doing a grind dance with her in the woods to some rap song while White dons some Indian feathers and blankets...I'm NOT kidding. What follows is the typical blueprint for this type of film -- Bullock ends up telling the family the truth just before their "mock" marriage in Alaska (just like in Sleeping) and even though they both blackmailed each other to keep their jobs (in Reynold's case, a raise to Editor position if he goes through with this fake wedding to prove Bullock's case to INS), Bullock goes into the INS agent's custody and prepares to be deported. But, alas -- Reynolds is really in love with his boss! And so even through flirting with his ex in Alaska, he flies back to New York just in time to catch Bullock packing her things in her office at their publishing company. Of course, the two of them share their feelings for each other in front of a plethora of cubicle workers, kiss passionately and decide to get married to each other -- FOR REAL. The Proposal makes you wonder just how far someone would go to secure a job or get a raise in this world -- and it's pathetic. I know I personally wouldn't succumb to the tactics outlined here, no matter how good the pay was; there's such a thing as pride. The semantics are ridiculously obvious and predictable in the film, but the actions are just unrealistic -- I mean, your boss wouldn't make out with you in front of dozens of co-workers and agree to marry you while the two of you wonder what you're going to do for work. At any rate, the fiancé wants the Blu-ray or DVD when it comes out, so unfortunately, I have to put this on my shelf -- but there is a nice usage of Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock's "It Takes Two" in the film! __________________ ONKYO TX-SR605B HDMI 1.3a; Onboard Dolby Digital Plus/TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio Panasonic DMP-BD10A SONY 1080p KDS-50A2020 SXRD Mains: polkaudio R20 Center: polkaudio CSi30 Surrounds: polkaudio R15 Sub: polkaudio PSW10 marantz CC4001 TASCAM CD-RW900SL PROFESSIONAL Technics SL-QD33 (due for replacement) APC SurgeArrest System INTERCONNECTS & SPEAKER CABLING BY MONSTER Last Review: Last edited by Peter Marlowe; 07-02-2009 at 01:06 AM.