The Proposal

Review by Anthony Morris

In The Proposal, Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is the boss from hell. 

Unfortunately, this does not make her assistant, Drew Tate (Ryan Renyolds) some kind of slightly less powerful demon. 

It just means that his life is one of grovelling servitude eked out in the hope that one day all his hard work will score him a job in the publishing house Ms Tate currently rules with an iron fist. 

That is the set-up, here is the twist: she is about to be deported (to Canada) thanks to failing to show any interest in filing the paperwork she needs to stay in the USA.

To save her job she blurts out that she and Drew are about to be married. 

Not surprisingly, this attracts the attention of the authorities waving "how well do you know your partner" tests.

No worries for Drew (after all, he has been monitoring her every move for years), but the test might prove a little more problematic for the cold hearted Margaret. 

Drew, seeing a chance to apply the thumbscrews, extracts a variety of concessions from her, including getting her to come with him for a family weekend. 

And this is the point in which The Proposal turns into a fairly sappy and uneven twist on Meet The Parents.

However, this time it is the potential newlyweds being the ones with all the problems as they slowly but surely grope their way towards the "love conquers all" conclusion we can all see coming from the start of the opening credits. 

Some scenes work (Betty White and Oscar Nuñez offer up The Proposal's big belly laughs), others really don't (a second love interest in the under used Malin Akerman), but there is real chemistry between Renyolds and Bullock. 

Both are skilled comedy performers in their own right, so - despite the story's refusal to be surprising, funny, or in some cases coherent - they end up making this onto a film that hits just slightly more than it misses. 

Which, in the world of the romantic comedy, counts as a win.

3 out of 5

The Proposal
Australian release: 18th June, 2009
Official Site: The Proposal
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Malin Akerman, Mary Steenburgen, Betty White
Director: Anne Fletcher