THE PROPOSAL

WALT DISNEY

RELEASED 22 July 2009

Sandra Bullock was the queen of rom-coms for a while in the late nineties, but she’s dropped off the radar somewhat this decade. This is a shame because Bullock is a fine comedian, so it’s great news to see her back in a funny hit movie.

Rising star Ryan Reynolds plays put-upon assistant Andrew to Sandra Bullock’s book editor Margaret. When the bosses threaten Margaret with deportation to Canada, her quick-thinking finds her convincing Andrew to accept a sudden engagement, thus securing her US status. He sets his own conditions however, which involve taking the pushy Margaret to meet his family in a small Alaskan town.

Reynolds and Bullock are the two reasons to see this movie. They shine onscreen together, and if the comedy had been quite a bit better, we’d be talking minor classic. As it is, there’s an affectionate charm about the whole thing. You won’t laugh uproariously, but you’ll chuckle, you’ll smile, and at the end you’ll think how sweet it all turned out. Sometimes, that can be a good enough way to spend two hours at the cinema when it’s grey skies outside.

THREE OUT OF FIVE