"It isn't how you get there, it's what you do along the way that counts."
"It isn't how you get there, it's what you do along the way that counts."
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Director: Anne Fletcher Writers: Pete Chiarelli Genre: Comedy - Drama - Romance Country: USA Certification: 12+ Language: English DVD Release: TBC
MAIN CAST:
Sandra Bullock [Margaret Tate] Ryan Reynolds [Andrew Paxton] Mary Steenburgen [Grace Paxton] Craig T. Nelson [Joe Paxton] Betty White [Grandma Annie]
Margaret Tate is a whip-wielding [symbolically speaking] boss of the worst kind. She's tough as nails, wouldn't even know how to crack a smile, and has absolutely no idea what 'feelings' are. The employees live in fear of her, however, her superiors appreciate the neat and tidy work environment she has created and respect her strong-willed workaholic ways because they work to the company's advantage.
Unfortunately for Andrew Paxton, he's Margaret's assistant, and although he knows her inside out, can even predict what she's going to say before she says it, every now and then he loses ground and instead of being a step ahead he ends up a step behind.
When Margaret is told by her bosses that she has been denied a work Visa in the US and is about to be deported back to Canada [her home], she takes one look at clueless Andrew Paxton, an all-around nice guy, and tells her bosses that
she and Andrew are getting married!
Stunned, Andrew goes along with his arrogant boss-from-hell while they are in the presence of the 'big' boss, but immediately balks the moment they return to Margaret's office. For obvious reasons, Andrew isn't too keen about the idea of marrying her... after all, he doesn't even like her! Margaret, however, isn't taking no for an answer because she needs a work Visa in order to stay in the country. Making Andrew a proposition, one that closely resembles blackmail, he caves in.
Andrew, unable to say no without eventually losing his job, goes along with the farce - however, when confronted by an extremely aggressive immigration agent who is dead-set on proving that the marriage is nothing more than a sham, Andrew quickly comes to the realisation that he just might end up in jail... and that's when he turns the tables on Margaret and demands a promotion.
In order to convince the immigration agent that their intended marriage is genuine, Andrew takes her to visit his parents in Alaska... and that's when everything that 'can' go wrong - 'does'.
'The Proposition', the latest Sandra Bullock movie, is a real gem... it is superior, as comedies go, to the two 'Miss Congeniality' movies, and although it is reminiscent of 'Two Weeks Notice', 'The Proposition' wins in the 'humour' department. There's just no beating this movie when it comes to comedy, romance and drama, and it isn't just because of Sandra Bullock, don't get me wrong, she's a great actress and is also a brilliant comedian, but in this case, her comedic star doesn't shine as brightly as Betty White's highly polished one.
Apart from a few repeat episodes of 'The Golden Girls' on television, I hadn't seen Betty White in a movie for ages, and how lovely it was to be able to watch her in action in 'The Proposition' where she plays the crafty and eccentric grandmother who knows what's best for everyone, and cleverly manipulates events to suit a 'higher' purpose. Betty's character is very much in keeping with her character in 'The Golden Girls', with the added bonus that she's less gullible and far more devious. This role had her name stamped all over it...
Getting back to Sandra Bullock, I have to say that she's as endearing as ever with the added bonus of being extremely brusque... she's a real 'bullock-breaker'... ahem... and yet there's this naïve, almost innocent quality to her, a vulnerability that only shows itself towards the end, but shines through just enough to make the cracks in her façade noticeable. As always, she is loveable and quirky, eccentric, wholesome in a girl-next-door sort of way, and altogether believable as Margaret Tate.
Ryan Reynolds, who plays Andrew Paxton, does so admirably. He is totally believable as the harassed and over-worked assistant who does somersaults around a far too demanding boss, a role where it doesn't seem possible that gentler emotions could subsist, but they do, and when Andrew and Margaret cease acting as assistant and boss and start acting like soon-to-be husband and wife, their mutual attraction feels 'right'. The chemistry between Ryan and Sandra is fantastic. I don't know how she does it, but Sandra is able to 'fit' with all her co-stars. Obviously, her 'chemistry' is a 'one size fits all'!
The storyline itself is extremely captivating regardless that the viewer already knows where it's heading. Yes, it's predictable, but that doesn't mean it's boring, quite the contrary. This movie is so unbelievably funny, the characters so incredibly quirky and loveable that the end result is a wholeheartedly satisfying movie regardless of its predictability. There are very few romantic comedies out there that are actually funny and romantic while targeting a male audience as well as a female audience... let's face it, rom-coms mostly target the female populace, and even then, most of them can't even satisfy their targets.
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