The Proposal
Posted by spankingbeaarthur on June 19, 2009
Swanner: A pushy boss (Sandra Bullock) forces her hot young assistant (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her in order to keep her Visa status in the U.S. and avoid deportation to Canada. Did you notice I added hot to Ryan’s description? Wasn’t he dreamy in the movie? I had such a good time, I don’t want to hear you spread your hate about this wonderful film
Judd: Look, people know that I can’t stand romantic comedies. They’re all the same, recycled insipid stories, banal jokes, and saccharine romance. The Proposal is insipid, banal and saccharine, and while I won’t go so far as to say it was tolerable, it wasn’t as nauseating as I expected.
Swanner: That’s like a four start review from Brian for a Romcom. I knew you’d love it. Wasn’t the supporting cast good? Betty White and Craig T Nelson were so good. I love the way they used Alaska as the back drop. It was so beautiful. Ryan Reynolds, all the clean clear air and Betty White…I think I need a cigarette. Did you notice I was giggling through the whole movie? It’s always a good barometer if I giggle during romantic comedies.
Judd: The scenery was beautiful. White and Nelson were very good as father and grandmother, but the movie still falls back on a lot of routine romcom shenanigans and too many scenes were set up just to showcase Bullock’s “Isn’t she quirky?” comedy style. I will say that I enjoyed the first hour, the last 40 minutes is when it got to be intolerably “cute”.
Swanner: Is that why you kept checking your watch? So you could check when the movie goes too cute? That was scene one for me. It was adorable. Did I mention the chemistry of the two leads? You could cut the sexual tension with a knife. How about the naked scenes? It was very sexy…even when Bullock is naked it was sexy. I’ll admit there were a few “isn’t she quirky” scenes but the film is so loveable that it’s forgivable and the audience really loved “those” scenes.
Judd: Yes, the first time I looked at my watch it was to mark the time of death. Seeing Ryan Reynolds almost fully naked was a nice treat. Watching a naked Sandra Bullock being cornered by a “cute” Pekinese puppy, or whatever the hell it is, wasn’t so cute. I recognized absolutely no chemistry between the leads. I related mostly with Craig T Nelson’s character at the end of the film. When all the women were telling him that Bullock really loved Reynolds, his reaction was “She does? Who can tell?”
Swanner: You don’t get romantic comedies the way I do. The is definitely 27 Dresses for me…which I loved as well. I thought the script was good and as I mentioned, the supporting actors were as good as the leads. It’s nice when two of my favorites work well together on screen. It was a big win/win for me. Having a Barry Manilow song hovering in the background is the only thing that might have made this movie better. I hope this comes out on Blu-ray soon or I might have to travel back to the theatres to see it. I loved it.
Judd: It didn’t make me ill or angry. Does that count?
Swanner: 4 Stars
Judd: 2 ½ Stars
