By Vanessa Ho
There is a certain formula to romantic comedies and The Proposal gets it just right and sprinkles it with a lot of humour.
In any romantic-comedy, the male and female leads need to antagonistic towards each other. In The Proposal we get Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) a takes no prisoner workaholic editor-in-chief at a book publishing company in New York City and her assistant, the put-upon Andrew Paxton (Canadian Ryan Reynolds). Andrew (and for that matter most of the employees at the company) hate her.
Next we need a situation that forces the two leads to spend an inordinate amount of time together so that they can get to know each other.
So, Margaret is a Canadian whose Visa has expired and now has to be deported back to Toronto for year before she can go back to the job she loves. Not wanting this, she pretty much bullies Andrew into marrying her.
Andrew reluctantly agrees under certain conditions that he be promoted to editor and get a manuscript he loves published. Margaret agrees. The snag is that U.S. immigration believes that their marriage is a sham and they have to prove that their relationship is the real deal. So off to Sitka, Alaska they go for the weekend to meet Andrew's family and celebrate his Gammy's (the wonderful Betty White) 90th birthday.
In all romantic comedies one or the other makes assumptions of the other person. So when Margaret arrives in Sitka, she is surprised to learn that Andrew's family is quite well of and practically owns the majority of the businesses in town.
Another staple of the romantic comedy, especially in ones where the couple are pretending be one is a scene of forced PDA but to only realize that they actually like it. In The Proposal after announcing that they are engaged, Gammy suggests the two kiss where it starts awkward but ends up being a bit more passionate.
Usually there is an ex involved and that role in The Proposal is filled by fellow Canadian actor Malin Akerman and the movie makes clear that Andrew and her still has feelings for each other (although the movie really doesn't make much use of it as a way to make Margaret jealous).
Of course throughout the film, Margaret and Andrew get to know more about each other and until you know it they are in love for real. And when the U.S. immigration officer, played by Dennis O'Hare, visits to check-up on the couple, Andrew's family suggests they get married during their stay.
I don't want to give away too much more but since this is a romantic comedy, I think you know how it ends.
It is odd to have American Bullock play a Canadian while Canadian Ryan Reynolds is playing the American. There is really nothing Canadian about Bullock's Margaret.
The strongest thing about The Proposal is the team of Reynolds-Bullock. Bullock really should do more comedy; it really is where she shines the best.
Sparks fly and hilarity ensues when they are combatants yet they lack chemistry when romance is involved. I found it incredibly hard to believe that Andrew would fall in love with Margaret; I think the writers didn't do enough to redeem her or make her loveable in any sense to the audience.
White of course steals the show as Reynolds' Gammy in every scene that she is in.
The much ado nude scene with Bullock and Reynolds was very funny and I could have used more of a naked Reynolds (that man is hot and ripped in a cute sort of way.)
The Proposal was a traditional romantic comedy with no surprises. However, while it hit all the comedy parts just right, it fell short of the romantic parts.
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