What more can you ask of a romantic comedy than it be romantic, have some
comedy, be touching here and there, have a professional cast that know what they
are doing and doing it well and throwing in some scenic sights in Alaska??  "The
Proposal", with some minor quibbling, fits the category in all aspects. It is
not a classic film, it won't be quoted and, in most cases, will quickly be
forgotten after a day or two but for a summer movie, for a pleasant hour and 50
minutes, to relax and watch good looking people having fun, the time goes by,
getting out of the heat or summer rain and no harm done.
There are a few quibbles as I said but they are
minor. I don't see how Sandra Bulloock can stand, let alone walk and act, in those high heels that she wears in the
first half of the movie and she is, to me, uncomfortably thin. Her role as
Margaret isn't challenging, she has been down this road before, but she makes it
seem fresh just as the writer of the film, Peter Chiarelli, makes all the cliches of a
romantic comedy appear to be heard for the first time even though you know the
words before they come out of the actor's mouths.
Ryan Reynolds, the hunk du jour, fits his role like a glove and shows off his
impressive chest a couple of times. Bullock has a mildly funny near nude scene
that really doesn't show her to advantage. Not much is made about the 8 year age
difference between Bullock and Reynolds but it does show now and then.
Craig T. Nelson and Mary Steenburgen as Reynolds parents seem to be
enjoying their roles while Betty White, as Gran, and Denis O'Hare, as an immigration agent, are
relishing and having a ball with theirs.
I enjoyed "The Proposal"--smiled a lot, laughed a few times, cried--and
always love a happy ending, just as you knew it would happen! There is nothing
new here but everything is handled and approached, by the director, writer,
photographer, actors, crew as if it was being done for the first time and make
it appear fresh.