“The Proposal” – Say no to old people.

A friend of mine likes to come into my office at work every now and then and ask me if I’ve seen recent movies. When I say yes, he tries to guess whether or not I liked them. Usually, he guesses not, which he did for “The Proposal.” I surprised him with the opposite answer, I did like it. He gave me a funny look (he had seen it as well) and I explained that I like Ryan Reynolds. Then, he wondered what I thought about the amount of skin shown by Sandra Bullock. That may sound like a typical guy question, but he has a way of asking questions that catch you completely off guard and make you laugh.

My friend wasn’t the only one who was a little surprised that I liked this movie. I saw the movie with my wife and sister-in-law and my wife didn’t think it was very good. Her biggest problem with it (and most other movies) is that they could have made it a lot better had they done a couple of little things differently. Her biggest issue was with the way the film ends. She thought it should have happened at Reynolds’ home in Alaska instead of them going back to New York. I’d give you more details, but I don’t want to spoil the end for you. Let’s just say that it’s a typical romantic comedy, so it won’t take a lot brain cells to guess how it ends.

Quick plot summary: Sandra Bullock is a really mean boss who forces Reynolds (her assistant) to marry her to avoid being deported back to Canada. In order to convince the immigrations agent that the marriage is not a sham, Bullock agrees to go to Alaska to meet all of Reynolds’ family. Hijinks ensue, their secret is revealed, Reynolds realizes he loves her, and chases after her. Did you think I was going to tell you if she loves him too? I told you I wouldn’t ruin it.

As I said before, Reynolds is the reason I liked this movie. Regardless of how funny his lines are in general, he always delivers them in a way that makes me laugh, not to mention most of the audience. Like Reynolds, Bullock can be relied on to deliver a solid comedic performance. Putting them two of them together almost guarantees an enjoyable movie. The nude scene is the perfect example of this. Stop snickering, it’s not the 1980’s; the scene puts the two of them together (you’ve seen the commercials) before they start developing chemistry.

The knocks I have against this film are Reynolds’ dad (Craig T. Nelson) and grandmother (Betty White). His dad owns nearly every business in the small Alaskan town and wants his son to take over the family business. I have no idea what the writers were thinking with this move. There is no comedy when he’s on screen and he’s a dick to Reynolds at every turn. Did you idiots (I’m talking to you now, writers) forget this was a comedy and that there was already enough tension built in with the fake engagement? You wrote it!

Not as bad, but equally as stupid was grandma. I think the writers saw how outrageous Cloris Leachman was in “Dancing with the Stars” and decided they would try to top her. This is just more proof that the writers didn’t have much to contribute to this film. “Old people are funny” just won’t friggin’ die (no pun intended) and the writers continue to beat it to death (maybe that pun was intended). She was way over the top and the jokes all fall as flat as a throw rug.

One last thing that I thought was strange has to do with the commercials. There are two scenes in the film that used different takes than what was shown in the commercials. I cannot make any sense of this, especially because the takes in the commercials are funnier than the ones in the film. My guess: old people.

Rating: Ask for five dollars back. The goodness of Bullock and Reynolds are cancelled out by the lameness of White and Nelson.