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Imserba Webstore - The Proposal (Single Disc Widescreen)
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List Price: $29.99
Our Price: $15.99
Your Save: $ 14.00 ( 47% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Touchstone Home Entertainment
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Betty White, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO
EAN: 0786936797770
Feature: PROPOSAL, THE (DVD MOVIE)
Format: AC-3
Label: Touchstone Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Touchstone Home Entertainment
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Touchstone Home Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2009-10-13
Running Time: 108
Studio: Touchstone Home Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: 2009
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Features
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PROPOSAL, THE (DVD MOVIE)
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Editorial Reviews:
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Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) terrorizes her publishing house co-workers with her abrasive, take-no-prisoners management style, especially her overworked assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds). But when Margaret is threatened with deportation to her native Canada because of an immigration technicality, the quick-thinking exec announces that she and Andrew are engaged to be married. Ambitious Andrew agrees to go along with her scheme—if there’s a long-awaited promotion in it for him. Everything is going according to Margaret’s plan, until an overzealous immigration official makes it his business to prove that the couple’s engagement is bogus. To demonstrate her commitment to her new fiancé, Margaret agrees to celebrate the 90th birthday of his colorful grandmother (Betty White) — in Alaska. The editrix’s type-A ways put her at odds with her eccentric future in-laws with hilarious consequences, until the Paxtons teach Margaret a thing or two about family.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: "Now, do you prefer being called Margaret... or Satan's Mistress?"
Comment: When not handling his business in superhero cinema, Ryan Reynolds tends to roam into the comedy genre. THE PROPOSAL is his latest romantic comedy and this time he plays opposite Sandra Bullock, an actress I used to follow onscreen, but not lately. Sandra Bullock made an impression on me with Speed (Widescreen Edition) and While You Were Sleeping, and even with Demolition Man, but all those flicks are more than a few years ago and, somewhere along the way, I just stopped watching her. Here, she goes against type but manages to bring back all the elements which had originally made her so endearing.
It's about tyrannical, much-loathed book editor Margaret Tate suddenly learning that she's on the verge of being deported back to Canada. Grasping at straws, she bullies her long-suffering assistant Andrew Paxton into pretending that they're engaged, their upcoming "nuptials" the key to her remaining in New York. It's not too long before things get crazy out of hand, and Margaret finds herself flying out to Sitka, Alaska on a weekend trip with Andrew to celebrate his grandma's birthday. So cue the usual romantic stuff, with a very suspicious immigration officer closely keeping tabs on the pretend relationship.
Thing is, there's nothing new in this one. THE PROPOSAL is actually a by-the-numbers picture with a contrived premise, and so, as it often turns out, whether the film sinks or swims hinges on the compatibility and appeal of the two leads. I have friends who don't dig Reynolds, and nowadays I rarely get swayed by Bullock's charms. But I happen to think that these two actors, in this movie, click together. The mutual dislike of their characters is palpable and very enjoyable, and, honestly, there's nothing quite so exquisite as when two people who really don't like each other end up crashing into each other while both are bare-nekkid. Returning to the down side, predictable sub-plots wing its way towards you and, by gum, there's even that most cliched of cliches: a frantic, last-minute dash to the airport. I was amused, but not too startled at the revelations regarding Margaret. We all suspected, going in, that she just had to have a softer side. And to check off on the "endearing character quirk" angle, Margaret happens to harbor a hidden fondness for rap music - and specifically for Lil Jon and Rob Bass & DJ E-Z Rock. That's sweet.
By now, Ryan Reynolds has this kind of role down pat. The bemused look, the pinched expression, the deadpan delivery, he's a natural at all that stuff. Several of his insults directed at Bullock are very funny. His character also has a side story centering on his bitter estrangement from his father. Mostly, though, Reynolds serves as the framing device with which to show off Sandra Bullock's pretty good performance. I've never seen Bullock in a mean dragon lady part (it's like seeing Norman Rockwell beat up a child), but I must say she's surprisingly effective and convincing and callous as heck. It's almost a shame that this particular genre demands that she eventually demonstrate a warmer, more vulnerable side to her. I was getting a kick out of her being this icy, horrifically insensitive boss.
THE PROPOSAL will have you wallowing in despised boss revenge fantasies and just maybe, even fantasies of a near nude Sandra Bullock, who may be in her forties now but, dang, she shows off a sexy bod. Okay, some of the scenes are cringe-worthy, the two most embarassing ones probably being the bachelorette party dude stripper dance and Betty White doing some sort of uncomfortable tribal dance. But this last one actually becomes funny when Betty asks Sandra Bullock to join in, and Sandra - well, you just have to see it.
3.5 out of 5 stars for this one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An entertaining movie
Comment: This is a good movie for entertainment. It has many strange twists that add to the humor. It also shows us that we should not prejudge people as they may not be what them seem. My wife and I watched it several times and enjoyed it each time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Cute chick flick
Comment: This was a good, cute, funny movie. Typical of Bullock at her cute, funny best. Of course the story is formulaic and there are no surprises, but if you let yourself just enjoy the movie I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Lots of really quirky/funny scenes. You know no one could ever be that uptight or actually have to escape eagles, but Bullock definitely pulls it off. However the big scene stealer was Betty White - an absolute comedic gem! I'm really glad Ms. White is back in the spotlight (an episode of 30 Rock this season, a voice-over in Ponyo, etc).
Customer Rating:
Summary: Predictable
Comment: The story is cute but very predictable. Sandra Bullock as the merciless boss forces engagement on her new subordinate to save her job. Throw in a few quirky relatives and some Alaskan scenery, what choice does she have but to soften up and become human. I think it could have used a few more twists and turns but if you're a Sandra Bullock fan, you'll love it anyway. Ryan Reynolds... skip right to the places where he takes off his shirt. Betty White is strangely eccentric but it works.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Disaster
Comment: I've seen Ryan Reynolds in movies in which he was charming and funny. He was great as the comic relief in the 3rd or 4th Blade movie, as an example, and Sandra Bullock can pull off a certain kind of role as well. She used to bring a fresh, sassy forthright appeal of her own, but in this film neither of them brings any of their strengths. Bullock looks pinched throughout and not like she's "in character," but as though she's wondering how the heck she ended up in this train wreck, and all of Reynolds' comedic gifts seem to be stifled. It felt like they both were acting with restraint. Not sure where that came from? Maybe the writing, which wasn't great, or the directing, but wherever it originated, it really held the movie back. I also found the movie's premise unlikely at best and the idea that one is going to do NYC to Sitka, Alaska and back in a weekend to be preposterous. But the real problem was that the characters did not behave believably in the end. What comes before needs to build to a believable resolution, and the idea that one highly stressful weekend together was going to cause these two characters to fall in love was beyond absurd. Each step of the way you could see how it wasn't adding up more and more that they should be together at all. There just was no reason presented for why they would suddenly turn their feelings around. I'd compare this movie to one Bullock did a few years ago called "While You Were Sleeping." In it she was engaged to one man while secretly falling in love with his brother and each step of the way you could see how and why she belonged with him rather then with the man she was engaged to. There was none of that slow build happening here at all, so when the ending came you weren't happily satisfied that all turned out as it should, but rather jarred and left thinking this is ridiculous because there's no way these two belong together. And sadly, we saw Bullock do the "I can't marry him under these circumstances" thing far better in "While You Were Sleeping." Did no one realize she'd done the exact same scene before in that movie? Clearly there are a great many people who love Bullock no matter what and apparently rom-com no matter how bad, and more power to them, but this movie was painful to watch in my view and a complete waste of time.
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