The Proposal

The Proposal, starring Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock, is unfunny, not interesting, predictable and, did I mention unfunny? Sobering? Frustrating? Because I cannot stress how not funny it is. It's annoying when you see a film that has the potential to be good, because this one really did. If they changed every intrinsic part of the film - i.e. cast an old, not generically attractive, actually believably demeaning and terrifying superbitch as Andrew Paxton's boss. Meryl Streep, perhaps. A Julie Cooper type.
Actually, after a prompted IMDB search, Sandra Bullock is forty-five. I didn't realise she was this old. So, if they were going to go for the older actress, why not go for someone who doesn't look mid-thirties?
I am not the biggest fan of the Bullock. Miss Congeniality bored me, and I don't know what the latter word of the film title means.
The Proposal is very much like Wedding Crashers, Failure to Launch, What Happens in Vegas, and every other expensive rom-com released in the past five years starring very famous people for no apparent reason other than for publicity purposes. The Proposal is not the best outlet for Bullock's comedienne attempt; perhaps her bedroom mirror may be more suitable.
Slapstick gags are plentiful: an eagle flying off with the family dog, then dropping the dog and swapping it for the mobile phone of the high maintenance career girl who's phone is, like, her life. Yes, an eagle. There is also the classic falling off a high-speed motor boat stunt whilst the driving companion chats obliviously. I cannot recall specifically seeing these scenes in previous films, but it felt like I had. It felt like I had seen the film before, and not only seen it, but wrote it, produced, directed, acted in it, and oversaw the whole production until it was released, I was that familiar with it.
That is the last time I see a high-budget rom com when it's at home.
Go and see The Hangover, it's really funny.