Half-decent Proposal

A good supporting cast and mild likeability
save the newest Sandra Bullock romcom
from the trash heap

CORNY BUT COMPETENT: The Proposal

by MALCOLM FRASER

Sandra Bullock has compromised her America’s Sweetheart persona with a streak of puzzling career calls, going back as far as her post-Speed follow-up, Internet thriller The Net, and continuing into her recent forays into supernatural spookiness (The Lake House, Premonition). In the romantic comedy The Proposal, she plays Margaret, a New York literary editor, Canadian emigrant and ball-busting boss to her assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds). With her visa status running out, she browbeats Reynolds into entering a marriage of convenience. To foil a zealous immigration agent (Dennis O’Hare) who smells a rat, Reynolds takes Bullock on a trip to his Alaska home to get to know his wacky family, played by the comic triumvirate of Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson and Golden Girl Betty White.

Now, this premise sounds dicey as hell, and by all logic the film should be terrible. It’s sappy, predictable, wildly implausible and full of cheap, corny gags. Reynolds is so bland, whitebread and charisma-deficient, the guy makes Ben Affleck look like Daniel Day-Lewis. As for Bullock, her comic strengths have always been in girl-next-door likeablility, goofiness and physical comedy, so her ice-queen character seems a bit miscast. Only when she—spoiler alert!—starts to loosen up do we get to see her make with the pratfalls and funny faces. (Perverts take note though, her much-ballyhooed quasi-nude scene isn’t quite all that).

So it’s hard to say what exactly saves the movie from utter hateability. The supporting cast certainly goes a long way. Steenburgen is always dependable for a good solid performance, White is actually pretty hilarious (without, somehow surprisingly, the filmmakers stooping to Adam Sandler-style granny sex jokes) and Nelson’s hair is just really fascinating to stare at.

Perhaps it’s just that the latest crop of Hollywood rom-coms have been so substandard (the grating He’s Just Not That Into You and the heinous New in Town come cringingly to mind), or maybe my critical judgment is impaired by a secret case of Bullock fandom. The Proposal is the kind of film you’d be happy to see on an airplane, or when you’re home sick—eminently competent, snark-free, unmemorable perhaps, but with just the right amount of mild chuckles and vague, inoffensive charm.

THE PROPOSAL OPENS THIS
FRIDAY, JUNE 19