Review – The Proposal

Myself, Liz and another couple went and saw The Proposal last night, which I class as yet another typical Sandra Bullock film with the addition of Ryan Reynolds providing comedic backup. The story was typical of the genre and the majority of the ‘twists’ were predictable – it would have been a nice difference if Bullock’s character rejected Reynolds’ at the end, but that is not what the audience is looking for.

Bullock provided her usual performance, which was decent as per usual. It would be nice to see her stretch into a weaker role with a character that was not as headstrong or alpha ‘male’ as such. The roles that she undertakes are generally the same or similar and it is not like she is unattractive and would not be able to perform in a more feminine role. Reynolds’ performance was not as headstrong as he has appeared in other films and a result of this was a noticeable reduction in his comedic applications throughout. The nature of his humour relies upon sarcasm and his performance does benefit from this reduction, although if the producers wanted the film to be more of a comedy than it was the writer’s should have provided Reynolds with more material. The few special effects that were evident in the film, such as the dog and eagle sequence were poorly and obviously executed with much room left for improvement.

Overall the film wasn’t too bad, an above average romantic comedy that still suffers from the fault of including a wedding that seems to drag films down to a point. The lead actors performances were adequate for the medium but in no way near their personal bests.

Story – 5
Lead Cast Performance – 6.5
Supporting Cast Performance – 6
Special Effects – 2.5
Audio – 5

5/10