Not because of the cast. In fact, I like all of them a lot - Sandra Bullock is reliably good, Ryan Reynolds, while not my favorite, usually does strong work, Mary Steenburgen is always a sweetheart, Craig T. Nelson, whom I enjoy, and Betty White, who, let's face it, is Betty White. The only cast member I had concerns with is Malin Ackerman, because she's been in a lot of junk (Watchmen, The Heartbreak Kid, Couples Retreat).
My trepidation with the film is the fact it is a romantic comedy. Me and the rom com genre have big beef.
Why you ask? Because it is soooo predictable. Every rom com follows this basic formula: boy and girl meet; boy and girl have attraction but for some reason (girl or boy already taken, boy and girl pretend they don't like each other, boy or girl's family won't "allow" their forbidden love) they spend the next hour to hour and 15 minutes fighting/apart/unhappy/longing for each other before ten minutes before the end one of them realizes "oh snap, we should be together" and they do. Big smooch followed by the credits.
Sound familiar? I know. Exactly. And that's why I generally avoid romantic comedies. All predictably the same. Hence my hesitation with The Proposal.
But I thought I'd give it a shot. Honestly, I had nothing else to do with my day and there were no other On Demand movies to watch.
And I'll admit it - I was pleasantly surprised. There were some moments of genuine humor, mostly revolving around Sandra Bullock's character being a foreigner in Alaska. Sandra Bullock genuinely shines as a cold hearted boss, and Ryan Reynolds does a great job as her foil. And Betty White is Betty White.
It's a cute hour and forty five minutes. I expect that if you like the romantic comedy genre, there won't be any surprises and you'll get the requisite warm-fuzzy feeling you expect by the end. There was nothing about The Proposal that was memorable, but there was also nothing objectionable, which, for me, is a huge compliment. If you're not a rom com person and you've got nothing else going on, this isn't a waste of your time.
