The Proposal

I didn’t know anything about this film when I went to see it, not remembering until later that I had seen a trailer, and noted that in the audience of about twenty, there was only one other male in sight. This was a rom-com, and while couples might see it in the evening, at lunch it was almost entirely giggling girls.

It wasn’t a bad film at all, but very forgettable, the kind of thing I’d put on in the background or watch in a plane. It was just very formulaic, an entertaining prospect (high-powered, steely city worker is going to be deported, but saves herself from a career crash by saying she will marry her assistant) carried through with torpid inevitability and stock characters (loving mother and stern father at odds with his son, evil immigrations officer and comedy foreigner). On the other hand, there was enough charm and humour, with Sandra Bullock slowly softening as she deals with crazy dogs and dotty but brilliant old women, that it was by no means a chore.

I did, however, find myself wishing that they hadn’t taken the easy route and made Reynolds’ character part of a rich family. If the cynical power-dressing office witch had softened surrounded by a normal, unremarkable family in a modest house and filling all the negative expectations she had built up about people less well-off than her, it would perhaps have been a little challenging and interesting. As it was, Bullock’s character is intoxicated by beautiful surroundings, valuable heirlooms and…well, speedboats. Rikk went so far as to say that if not for the money, the character would never have fallen for Reynolds’, and it’s a real shame (as well as somewhat sexist) to think that the girl would never grow to change her mind and fall in love if not for money.