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The Proposal

Buzz says:   MPAA Rating: PG-13
Current Showtimes: No showtimes available

Romantic comedies are predictable. There’s no way the guy and the girl will ever not get together. People would feel robbed. Going into The Proposal, which inevitably begins with the two main characters hating each other, everyone knows that they have to grow to love each other by the end. It’s just the natural order of things.

Although this movie feels a lot like other Sandra Bullock movies (see While You Were Sleeping and Two Weeks Notice), it works. It’s cute, the stars have chemistry and it’s funny. The scene where they smack into each other buck-naked is as funny as it looks in the trailer, but there are other, subtler scenes that had the whole audience laughing, too. As Margaret (Bullock) and Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) warm up to each other, their talk leads to a hilarious impromptu singing of Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock’s “It Takes Two.” Another scene with a bad male stripper is awkwardly funny. The adorable Betty White steals all of her scenes as Andrew’s saucy grandmother. At one point, she’s even dressed in a tribal headdress, communing with nature so that Margaret and Andrew’s loins may be fruitful. It’s ridiculous, but Betty White looks like she’s having fun, so she makes it work.

There is one big problem, though. Most romantic comedies ask the audience to believe that the characters fall in love impossibly quickly. In The Proposal, Margaret’s growing feelings for Andrew are understandable—he’s nice, hardworking, has a great family and looks like his abs have been chiseled from stone. While Margaret improves, Andrew supposedly loathed her for three years. For him to suddenly be in love with her is ridiculous. He might start to like her better, but the chance of him chasing after her and confessing his love so quickly is slim. The instant love connection thing comes with the chick flick territory, but this one stretches it.

The Proposal is nothing new, and it knows it. It is what it is. Anyone expecting something that’s not full of clichés should already know to skip this movie. It is better than recent romantic comedies, though. The presence of actual chemistry between the two stars helps. So does comedy. Other recently released chick flicks have been unfunny and boring. While some will probably find this boring, too, it is a cut above the rest. Anyone who likes romantic comedies will probably like it. I did.