Movies & More reviewer John Gillispie thinks “The Proposal,” rated PG-13 and starring Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds and Betty White, is a fun romantic comedy that is worth watching despite a somewhat flat ending.

Sandra Bullock is so likable that even when she plays a mean character, the audience cannot help but love her.

Bullock is Margaret Tate, a tough-as-nails book editor in New York, who loves making life miserable for her assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds). We get just a glimpse of how mean Margaret can be before she discovers that she is about to be deported to Canada and all her hard work will have gone to waste.

Margaret threatens to destroy Andrew’s career in publishing if he doesn’t marry her and make her a legal citizen. In turn, Andrew makes Margaret promise to promote him to book editor.
Meanwhile, Andrew is risking a quarter of a million dollar fine and five years in prison if an immigration official determines the marriage is not real. The immigration official assigned to the case sees through their plan right away and tries to get Margaret and Andrew to confess without success.

A weekend trip to Alaska where Andrew’s Grandma Annie (Betty White) will be celebrating her 90th birthday provides Margaret and Andrew with a chance to tell his family about the upcoming wedding and for Margaret to learn more about Andrew’s life. As her assistant, he already knows quite a bit about her likes and dislikes.

Upon arrival in Alaska, Margaret is surprised to see that Andrew’s family is very wealthy and lives in a mansion and owns several businesses in town. Grandma Annie and Andrew’s mother Grace (Mary Steenburgen) are very welcoming to Margaret. Andrew’s dad Joe (Craig T. Nelson) doesn’t buy that his son is in love with Margaret and wants Andrew to leave New York and return to Alaska to take over the family businesses.

“The Proposal” succeeds on the great performances of Bullock, Reynolds, and comedy veteran White, who squeezes every ounce of “funny” out of her role. Also adding to the humor is Oscar Nunez as Ramone, who turns up throughout the movie but gets the most laughs as the only male stripper available for Margaret’s night out with the girls.

During the trip to Alaska, we learn that Margaret lost her parents at 16 and has no other relatives, which helps explain why she has built her life up around her career. Seeing how much Andrew means to his family and how kindly his mother and grandmother are to her, Margaret begins to have second thoughts about lying to Andrew’s family to save her job.

“The Proposal” is funny and holds your attention throughout. I think the ending seems a little flat though. In fact, you have to stay through the beginning of the credits to see a few more scenes. Despite my quibble with the ending, “The Proposal” is a fun romantic comedy and, hopefully, someone out there is writing another funny role or two for Betty White.

John Gillispie is the public relations director for the Huntington Museum of Art. Contact the writer at jgillisp@hmoa.org.

The Associated Press

Ryan Reynolds, center right, and Sandra Bullock, are shown in a scene from "The Proposal." Our Movies & More reviewer John Gillispie thought the movie was a fun romantic comedy that is worth watching despite a somewhat flat ending.

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