Even with the age difference (she’s 44; he’s 32), Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds make a darn cute couple in The Proposal, a high-concept romantic comedy that sizzles more than it fizzles. Directed by Anne Fletcher, who helped turn Katherine Heigl into a bona fide rom-com princess in last year’s 27 Dresses, The Proposal might very well restore Bullock’s title as America’s (blue-collar) Sweetheart.
Amazingly, this is Mrs. Jesse James’ first romantic comedy since
2002’s Two Weeks Notice. Since then, she’s dabbled in
awards-baiting dramas (Crash, Infamous), psychological thrillers
(Premonition) and even metaphysical love stories (The Lake
House). While most actresses of her, uh, mature stature would
probably begin segueing to character roles by now, Bullock borrows a
page from the 1960s Doris Day playbook by booking the sort of
slapstick-tinged romance she cut her teeth on back in the Clinton
administration.
Bullock plays Margaret Tate, a book editor who strikes fear into her
cowering staff just by entering the building. After learning that she
faces deportation, the boss-from-hell blackmails her executive
assistant Andrew (Reynolds) into marrying her. Realizing that he’s
suddenly got the upper hand, Andrew somehow convinces “Satan’s
Mistress” to fly to Alaska to meet his (what else?) quirky family.
Before you can say “The Devil Wears Prada meets Green
Acres,” this imperious New Yorker is mixing it up with the folksy
locals.
Since debuting screenwriter Peter Chiarelli has obviously studied
the basics of Romantic Comedy 101, it’s only a matter of time before
Margaret and Andrew realize that they sort of, kind of, actually dig
each other. (The same thing happened to frenemies Renée
Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. earlier this year in New in
Town.)
Fletcher again displays a deft touch with even the most obvious of
comic situations. And hiring veteran cinematographer Oliver Stapleton
(The Cider House Rules, Restoration) ensures The Proposal has more visual élan than Fletcher’s dowdy-looking
Dresses. Ex-Golden Girl Betty White’s frisky Alaskan
granny gets the biggest laughs, but it really is Bullock and Reynolds’
movie. These rom-com pros have you at “hello.”
This article appears in Jun 17-23, 2009.
I saw this last week. It really is hysterically funny.