Sandra Bullock is one of the most likable and skilled comedians in films today, but she hasn't had a comedy hit since the first Miss Congeniality nine years ago. That's about to change with The Proposal, an engaging, well-crafted lark that proves "high concept" isn't a tired tactic.
And Bullock is talented enough to play convincingly against her genial image here as the proverbial boss from hell, Margaret Tate, a hard-driving New York book editor.
Choreographer-turned-director Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses) delivers a well-paced, highly attractive production. Summer audiences, especially the female segment, should have no hesitation accepting this Proposal.
Peter Chiarelli's script borrows a page from The Devil Wears Prada in the opening scenes, as Margaret's fearsome reputation precedes her among her frantic staff. Chief among these is her younger, underappreciated assistant, Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds), who harbors ambitions to become an editor.
Margaret has been so focused on her career, she's neglected a few legalities and is suddenly informed that she faces deportation to her native Canada. Desperate to keep her job, she impulsively "confesses" that she and Andrew are engaged to be married. Andrew grudgingly agrees to the charade, on condition that he finally gets that book editor position.
The forced romance coincides with a major family celebration in Andrew's hometown of Sitka, Alaska, where, Margaret discovers, the Paxton tribe is a very big, affluent deal. Andrew's mother, Grace (Mary Steenburgen), is warm and welcoming, but his formidable dad Joe (Craig T Nelson), who resents his son's rejection of the family business, is sceptical about an older woman in Andrew's life.
Then there's Annie, the 90-year-old matriarch played with scene-stealing ebullience by TV icon Betty White. Also in the mix is Gertrude (Malin Akerman), the sweet Alaskan girl Andrew abandoned.
Chiarelli's script mines all the fish-out-of-water humour of the business-dressed, cell phone-dependent Margaret's immersion in the more laid-back and sometimes downright odd culture of picturesque Sitka.
Starting the film as a borderline caricature of an unpleasant workaholic, Bullock convincingly peels back the layers of Margaret, revealing the pain behind her steely facade and the vulnerability that surfaces as she and Andrew get to know each other better amid the tense masquerade. By midpoint, we're actually rooting for this erstwhile office gargoyle.
It helps immeasurably that Bullock has tremendous chemistry with Reynolds. The former TV actor has been getting a lot of work lately but hasn't quite broken through as a star. The Proposal should remedy that.
He matches Bullock's comic timing note for note and conveys all of Andrew's frustration and growing attraction to Margaret. The situations might be formulaic, but the teamwork of the two leads brings them to sparkling life.
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