INSTEP Magzine

Choreographer turned director Anne Fletcher seems to be really fixated with weddings. Her previous venture, 27 Dresses harboured on the same theme as her latest fare, The Proposal starring a rather mature (read: over the hill) Sandra Bullock with a super cute (in an American sort of way) and dreamy Ryan Reynolds, whom you would recognise from the sitcom Two Guys, A Girl and A Pizza Place. Akin to her last movie, The Proposal also takes the run of the mill ‘boy and girl forced to enact a relationship and caught up in the façade and fall in love’ story line. Yawn. Worse though is that it follows the typical Mills and Boon plot line with the revelation

that Reynolds is actually somewhat an "Alaskan Kennedy". (How socially appropriate though to fall in love with a wealthy ‘khandaani’ heir!)

Bullock attempts to play a high powered career woman who is the b**chy demanding boss to an aspiring writer, Reynolds, who has the misfortune of being her assistant. Sound’s familiar? Only Meryl Streep did a far more convincing job in The Devil Wears Prada as did Anne Hathaway as the petrified assistant. Bullock really cannot pull off being a b**ch and the first half is rather paltry with her attempts at trying to boss over Reynolds. Although one must admit, it is quite entertaining to see them both in an acerbic verbal tennis match when she demands that he marry her so that she doesn’t risk losing her high profile job as a

book editor. With her imminent deportation from the USA looming precariously over their heads, it results in a massive shift of power dynamics in their lopsided relationship. Bullock’s attempt at convincing her bosses about her sudden involvement with a secretary is hilariously denoted in her rhetorical rebuke: "Wouldn’t be the first time one of us fell for a secretary now would it?"

Thus the shenanigans of trying to prove to the family and immigration authorities that the relationship is real, leads to a series of farcical situations and amusing dialogues that make the movie a pleasant watch. Reynolds’ family members are quite an interesting bunch particularly his Grandma and her astute observation "she comes with a lot of baggage" , as is the character Ramone, a man of multifarious talents and occupations that transpire over an eccentric continuum - from butler to stripper to shop keeper and finally a priest. Ramone (played by Oscar Nuñez from The Office) is the ‘item number’ in this highly predictable Bollywood masala mush love story.

One may have to grudgingly concede though that "the word girl is probably inappropriate" (as Reynolds’s grandma says) for Bullock, who should have respectfully declined to star opposite such a young actor. She seems a bit too old to have believable and charged, but most importantly, workable, on-screen chemistry with Ryan Reynolds. More shocking though is the scene when both bump into each other naked and believe it or not a naked Sandra Bullock colliding with a naked Ryan Reynolds is more incestuous than sexy, and leaves a very disturbing aftertaste that is hard to shrug off. Shudder. Hollywood really needs to learn the bitter lesson that sex is not always important for all love stories. So please spare us the perennial torture of over exposed skin where it is certainly NOT required.

However, trite as though the plot may be The Proposal is a quintessential chick flick that girls could easily settle to watch during a sleepover or after a long day at work. It is actually quite funny with its timely pithy punch lines (as one may guess from the witty taglinee, ‘here comes the bribe’) that make The Proposal an enjoyable watch.

- Hani Taha Salim

*YUCK
**WHATEVER
***GOOD
****SUPER
*****AWESOME