I am always wary when I see little snippets of film reviews declaring a particular film to be “The year’s best Comedy…” or “Laugh-Out-Loud Funny…” as they are usually indicative of just the opposite, especially if they are from film reviewers I have never heard of. Well, such is the case with the subject of today’s review, The Proposal starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, which is declared to be “The Years Best Comedy” by Pete Hammond and “laugh out loud funny” by Leonard Maltin (who I have heard of!). While the film does have its moments, it is hardly the year’s best comedy.
Film
The Proposal represents something of a role reversal for Sandra Bullock. In many of her films, she is cast as America’s Sweetheart. Here, she is Margaret Tate, the cold, unfeeling, excessively demanding, obnoxious and very hard to take head of a New York book publishing company, just the opposite of her usual on screen persona, at least initially. The other lead is Ryan Reynolds, who plays her executive assistant Andrew Paxson.
It seems that the entire office either hates or fears (or both) Margaret who is designated as the witch on her broom is emails that are sent around the office warning of her arrival and pending movements about the office. However, it seems that Margaret does have a bit of a problem in addition to her steely personality. She is a Canadian whose visa has been revoked by the US government and who is asked to leave the country which would have the net effect of her losing her glamorous and well paid position as head of the book publishing company.
In order to stay, she concocts a story off the top of her head that she and Andrew are secretly lovers and are about to get married. As part of the rouse, they travel to Andrew’s hometown of Sitka, Alaska, for his grandmother’s 90th birthday party to break the news to the family, where the family decides to hold an inpromptu wedding that same weekend, much to their surprise, as they intended to get married quietly in New York and after a few months, file for a divorce. As one would expect, things don’t go exactly as planned and things get very complicated, in regards to the wedding as well as to the US Immigration and Naturalization Service who suspects them of fraud and have threatened Andrew with a prison sentence if he goes through with the plan.
All in all, the film is a rather predictable chick flick with the exception of the scenes with Betty White as Grandma Annie, who really steals the film. If there are any laugh out loud moments in the film, they involve the scenes with Grandma. The film does have its moments and is good for a Saturday night rental at home with the family, but not really worth a purchase. Recommended as a rental only.
Video
There is a lot to love about the look of the film. The film features a very natural looking color palette with spot on skin tones. The scenes that are set in Sitka, Alaska look spectacular, with lush greens and a beautiful blue sky. Black levels are deep and solid and and detail is excellent as well, at least on the tight shots which look quite good, fully worthy of a 4.5 stars rating. In the tighter shots, facial and background details are excellent, with skin pores, blemishes and facial hairs clearly visible.
Film grain appears to have been well preserved and I was not really able to detect the application of any significant digital noise reduction. I am sure you are wondering why I gave the video quality a rating of only 4 stars. The reason is the more distant shots, which lack the level of detail visible in the tighter shots, looking a good bit softer and fuzzier than the rest of the film, hence the reduction in the overall score. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good looking film, it is just that it lacks the consistent level of sharpness, clarity and detail that are the hallmarks of the best looking films on Blu-ray. I am confident, however, that fans of the film will be pleased with the video quality on its presentation on Blu-ray.
Audio
For a chick flick, I was quite pleased with the overall fidelity of the 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio lossless audio track that is included with this release. The overall sound of the film is smooth and open with excellent bass response which is mostly evident with the musical score of the film. I also found transparency and imaging to be very good as well, with the sound emanating from the front three speakers having a very nice sense of depth and separation. The dialogue track was also very well recorded and placed front and center in the mix The only real issue I had with the audio involved the overall sound design which was a bit too front heavy for my taste.
While the surrounds are active during the film, they only provide a slight sense of room ambiance during interior shots and a more involving sound during the exterior shots in New York City. I just wish that the the more aggressive use of the surrounds employed during the New York street scenes was employed during the rest of the film. The sound design is of the type normally employed in check flicks, albeit it with better overall fidelity than most of the recent chick flicks that I have recently reviewed, but not enough to warrant a half a point increase in the overall score. I have no doubt however, that fans of the film will be pleased with the sound of this release.
Special Features
There are several extras included with this release, all of which are presented in HD. The most significant extra is the alternate ending provided for the film with an optional commentary by the director Anne Fletcher and the writer, Peter Chiarelli. I watched the film first and then went to the alternate ending. While I had some quibbles with the film’s ending, I found the ending chosen to be included with the theatrical release to be preferable to the alternate ending included with the Blu-ray release. It just didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the film and I can see why it ended up on the cutting room floor.
The extras also included several deleted scenes again with optional commentary by the director and writer as well as a featurette Set Antics, which consists of a series of outtakes from the film, a gag reel if you will. The film also includes a feature commentary with Anne Fletcher and Peter Chiarelli. A digital copy of the film is also included which is compatible with Macs and PCs. The release is not BD-Live enabled.
Final Thoughts
The Proposal is a mildly entertaining film that is worth a rental on a quiet evening at home with the family. It features good albeit not exactly reference audio and video presentations. Recommended as a rental only.
