The Proposal (2009)

July 1, 2023 10:06 AM

A pushy boss forces her young assistant to marry her in order to keep her visa status in the U.S. and avoid deportation to Canada.

Faced with deportation to her native Canada, high-powered book editor Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) says she's engaged to marry Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds), her hapless assistant. Andrew agrees to the charade, but imposes a few conditions of his own, including flying to Alaska to meet his eccentric family. With a suspicious immigration official always lurking nearby, Margaret and Andrew must stick to their wedding plan despite numerous mishaps.

Candice Frederick: BUT I do have to admit that I did laugh a few times. Both Reynolds and Bullock both play on each other's dry sarcastic humor making the casting a good fit. Mary Steenbergen (love her), Betty White and Craig T. Nelson costar.
The Proposal is worth a rental I guess, but I wouldn't rush to your Netflix queues (unless it's cold and rainy where you are too). If you're a chick flick lover, you'll love this. If you're a Bullock or Reynolds fan, check it out.

Danielle Solzman: Listen, I can discuss how the film plays to genre beats. However, the cast manages to win us over. You have both Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds! Together, the duo display great chemistry together. We cannot discuss this film without getting into how the legendary Betty White steals the show. Her appearance in The Proposal had a domino effect. First, the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award was announced in September 2009. Following this, Betty White hosted SNL in May 2010. Hot in Cleveland premiered in June 2010 and would finish the sixth and final season in June 2010. None of the Betty White renaissance would be possible without this film! Her final live-action feature role came in 2010 with the release of You Again.

Megan Basham: It's quite a testament to Bullock and Reynolds that despite all the implausible frippery, they still make you root for their characters. Mostly they make you root for them to be paired together again in a better movie.

Trailer

posted by Carillon (6 comments total)

Interesting that multiple reviews commented on how much older Bullock is then Reynolds (10 years), yet you'd never see the same comment when the actor is 20 years older than his love interest. Just shows how much you don't notice culture when you're swimming in it.
posted by Carillon at 12:05 PM on July 1, 2023 [8 favorites]

I hate to say it, but I love this stupid movie. "Why are you naked?/Why are you wet?" has never left my brain since the first time I saw the trailer. The leads have insane chemistry and it just zings off the screen straight to my heart.
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:51 PM on July 1, 2023 [4 favorites]

This is a great movie because you get the constant low buzz that although he doesn’t like her, he absolutely respects her as a driven career professional. She’s good at her job! She’s smart! She’s also unabashedly mean and/or odd in a lot of ways that are either appropriately softened or accepted. And he’s also a sharp prickly person except, Canadian about it. One of my absolute favourites.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 7:09 PM on July 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

Interesting that multiple reviews commented on how much older Bullock is then Reynolds (10 years), yet you'd never see the same comment when the actor is 20 years older than his love interest.

Have you seen the commentary for "The Lost City?" It keeps on.

I don't remember much about this movie--Bullock is more of an arrogant jerk in this one than other movies--but I remember it as being pleasant enough, and enjoying Ryan and Betty.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:44 PM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

I happened to see this again last summer and it did not disappoint. I laughed a lot. It was heaps of fun. I especially liked it because it gender-flips a romantic trope.

The Lost City was originally written with a Reynolds/Bullock re-team in mind, but apparently Reynolds was too expensive so they got Channing Tatum. I really like Ryan Reynolds, but I'm not sure he could have brought the puppy-dog element that Tatum brought to the role. Even in Free Guy, he doesn't quite have that.
posted by rednikki at 1:22 PM on July 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

I saw this movie in the theatre with my mother-in-law. I was thrilled that they filmed part of it in Rockport, MA, a cute coastal town where I had worked as an office intern on Bearskin Neck for 2 years during college - good location match for "Alaska" or whatever. Imagine my surprise when my old office was used as an "internet cafe" in the movie and my old desk was featured- I was in that very window for 2 years. Such a lovely throwback.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:46 PM on July 8, 2023 [1 favorite]