Disney / Buena Vista | 2009 | 108 mins. | Rated PG-13
At first glance, The Proposal looks like your standard romantic comedy: she’s a cold-hearted boss; he’s her abused personal assistant. In order to avoid being deported to her native Canada, she tells the immigration office that he’s her fiancé—they just happen to be going to Alaska that weekend to meet his family! They don’t get along, but if he sticks to the plan, there’s a promotion in his future. But as the charade continues, they’re surprised to discover that sometimes the thing you pretend is true actually turns out to be true….
As typical as that sounds, The Proposal still manages to be a cut above the rom-com rest. Yes, the film has all the predictable clichés of the genre, but director Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses), screenwriter Pete Chiarelli and actors Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds do what they can to make the whole experience fun. Props to veteran actress Betty White; at age 87, she hasn’t lost any of her comic timing, and manages to steal nearly every scene in which she appears.
Sandra Bullock plays Margaret Tate, a socially inept Chief Editor at a New York City publishing house. A hardnosed perfectionist and demanding boss, she scares everyone in her office. Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) is Margaret’s good-hearted, but browbeaten assistant who dreams of being a writer and hopes to be promoted to Editor.
A Canadian, Margaret has been going through the application process to become a U.S. citizen for years, but she left the country without permission to attend a European Writers Conference. This little detail has derailed her bid to be a U.S. citizen and puts her on the quick path to deportation. At a meeting with her bosses, she announces that she is recently engaged, hoping to save her position with the company. Andrew walks into the room and she declares that he is her intended. She and Andrew go through some intense dealings about the arrangement, and fly off to Sitka, Alaska to meet his parents. Sitka is a little, picturesque, waterfront town filled with shops and boutiques; most of which bare Andrew’s family name.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were some kind of Alaskan Kennedy?” Margaret asks. “How could I?” Andrew replies. “We were in the middle of talking about you. For the last three years.”
As they ride through the Sitka, you can see the rest of the film coming a mile away. She will be charmed by his family and small town life; he will see a softer, more caring side of her. Check. The reason this works is because Sandra Bullock comes across as genuine and easy to relate to. That’s what made her a star all those years ago in Speed, and it continues to get her roles today. Once the scene shifts to Alaska, Bullock plays Margaret as someone who could be anybody’s friend, and she’s thoroughly convincing.
The pivotal scene that has Margaret finally shedding her ice queen image has Andrew’s mother (Mary Steenburgen) and grandmother (Betty White) fitting grandma’s wedding dress for Margaret. When she sees herself in the mirror wearing her grandmother-in-law’s gown, she’s obviously going to melt.
So, while the plot has been recycled countless times, it’s done with such cheerfulness and good humor, that you just might find The Proposal is the perfect movie for those cold, rainy nights.
The Proposal comes to Blu-ray with a less than stellar 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer. Oliver Stapleton’s steely cityscapes, warm offices, and autumnal countrysides are bolstered by vibrant primaries and bold colors, but skintones are all over the place. Natural, flushed, bronzed… the casts faces are rarely the same from scene to scene. Contrast and black levels are more reliable, but occasionally suffer from a sense of flattened depth. However, the picture is spot on often than not. Detail is sharp, delineation is strong, and textures, while a bit mushy here and there, are generally pleasing. Disney’s technical presentation is quite proficient as well. I didn’t detect any artifacting, source noise, or crush, and edge enhancement has been kept to a minimum.
The Proposal’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track fairs better than its video transfer. Dialogue is crisp and clear, Aaron Zigman’s score mingles effortlessly with the rest of the soundscape, and environmental ambiance is crisp and playful. As you might expect, the LFE channel and rear speakers are subdued, but never far removed from the experience. Voices are weighty and street noise is convincing, lending some legitimacy to the at-times front-heavy soundfield. It handles what it has to, well.
The Blu-ray edition of The Proposal includes the same features that appear on the standard DVD, tacks on an additional deleted scene, and presents all of the video content in high definition. The set also includes the requisite digital copy.
• Audio Commentary: Commentary with director Anne Fletcher and writer Peter Chiarelli. The two share stories about writing the script, casting, the on-set chemistry of the actors, changes made to the film along the way, improvisation, the final edit and more.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 7 minutes): The Proposal serves up three cuts — a show of affection between Craig T. Nelson and Mary Steenburgen, further explanation as to why Andrew left his hometown for New York, and a visit between Andrew and former flame Gertrude — optional commentary with Fletcher and Chiarelli help explain the reason each scene was left on the cutting room floor.
• Alternate Ending (HD, 7 minutes): A weaker, unused ending. Optional commentary finds Fletcher and Chiarelli explaining why they didn’t use it.
• Set Antics (HD, 7 minutes): This series of “Outtakes and Other Absurdities from The Proposal” is pretty standard stuff.
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