The Proposal (2009)

43% of critics liked it
(181 reviews)
74% of users liked it
(806,196 ratings)

Sandra Bullock stars in the romantic comedy The Proposal, as a Canadian immigrant who creates a demanding and difficult work environment for her subordinates at the office. When the news arrives that she's about to be deported to the Great White North, she rushes into a marriage of convenience with… More Sandra Bullock stars in the romantic comedy The Proposal, as a Canadian immigrant who creates a demanding and difficult work environment for her subordinates at the office. When the news arrives that she's about to be deported to the Great White North, she rushes into a marriage of convenience with her young assistant (played by Ryan Reynolds) to prevent such a catastrophe from occurring. 27 Dresses' Anne Fletcher directs from a script by Peter Chiarelli for Touchstone Pictures. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 47 min.
Directed By: Anne Fletcher
Written By: Peter Chiarelli
Genres: Comedy, Romance

In Theaters: Jun 19, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Oct 13, 2009
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures

Critic Reviews

Joe Baltake, Passionate Moviegoer
Familiarity breeds contempt
Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies
Sloppy and lazy.
Ben Lyons, At the Movies
Believability really goes out the window here.
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
Instead of being about dinosaurs and time warps, it's about gags that were old when dinosaurs ruled the earth.
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
It's impossible to guess why Bullock was ever attracted to this insulting role, and the eternally confident Reynolds is miscast as a young, bullied underling.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
Shamelessly derivative, contrived and predictable, The Proposal is nonetheless a crowd-pleasing romantic comedy.
Neil Pond, American Profile
A fresh twist to a proposal that starts out as all business but becomes something warmer and fuzzier before it's over.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
The comedy is some good moments, and the chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds is strong, but it's too cute and predictable
Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures
The story is cute, although a little forced, but for the basic romantic comedy, you could do a lot worse. Sure, it's predictable, but the flick works and is quite satisfying in the end.
Dragan Antulov, Draxblog Movie Reviews
annoyingly predictable and barely watchable piece of Hollywood routine
Brian Webster, Apollo Guide
The blu-ray tries to whet your appetite for going HD by also adding an additional deleted scene.
Brian Webster, Apollo Guide
It's not awful, certainly not memorable and - despite the words of at least one quote whore - it's not "the year's best comedy."
Andrea Chase, Killer Movie Reviews
a morass of clichés
John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Tailored to fit Sandra Bullock more snugly than the antique wedding gown altered for the star during the final act, the film begins to fall apart at the seams after its focus wanders from its promising screwball premise...
Jeffrey Chen, Window to the Movies
Bullock is totally at home in this territory, and she remains fun to watch, but I do wish she would get stronger, possibly more original comedic material.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Unfortunately, this winning team is stuck in a dumb vehicle.
Kam Williams, Sly Fox
An old-fashioned romp reminiscent of the best of Doris Day and Rock Hudson.
Sal Cinquemani, Slant Magazine
Quite a few of bonus features pad this DVD of The Proposal, which is otherwise notable solely for seeing Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds accidentally slam into each other completely in the buff.
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
The Proposal doesn't blaze any new ground, but it doesn't raze any old ground either. It's a solid, old-fashioned romantic comedy that's more interested in the romance than in being silly or raunchy. These days, that's refreshing enough.

Read all 19 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

John M

Cute movie, Ryan Reynolds as always is good. Sandra Bullock is funny and her and Reynolds have a decent chemistry. Betty White really shines in the supporting role.
Jameson W

Completely ridiculous storyline, but completely entertaining nonetheless. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds have great chemistry together, and Betty White is hilarious!
Cassie H

A really sweet and also a rather cute romantic comedy. Ryan Reynolds & Sandra Bullock have great chemistry in this sweet movie :) :) :) :) :) :)
Brad W

Funny at times, but I forgot this movie in a day. Self centered Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is the boss at a huge book publishing company, and when she is threatened of being deported she forces her assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her or else he will lose his job.… More
Funny at times, but I forgot this movie in a day. Self centered Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is the boss at a huge book publishing company, and when she is threatened of being deported she forces her assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her or else he will lose his job. Sandra Bullock is the main reason to watch this, she is hilarious and the perfect choice. Ryan Reynolds seems to just be reading off a script, he really bored me. The plot is an average rom com, they aren't in love but then discover they love eachother, and the whole deportation thing is really cliche. But the reason I gave this 2.5 stars is because its cliche and very dumb at times, but its good fun and it has some great laughs during it, and I miss Sandra Bullocks good old fashion romantic comedies.
Manu G

Here comes the bribe... Saw it again! Good movie! I liked it, was a pretty good chick flick, kinda funny too at times. Nice cast to go along a nice story. Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is the executive editor-in-chief of a book publishing company, Colden Books, who forces her… More
Here comes the bribe... Saw it again! Good movie! I liked it, was a pretty good chick flick, kinda funny too at times. Nice cast to go along a nice story. Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is the executive editor-in-chief of a book publishing company, Colden Books, who forces her assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her in order to avoid being deported to Canada. He grudgingly accepts, under the condition that he is promoted to the position of editor. When the government investigates, the two are forced to spend the weekend with his parents in Alaska in order to sell the lie. The family suggest they could marry the same weekend, and they reluctantly accept. They start to fall genuinely in love as they spend more and more time together. Because of this, during the wedding ceremony, Margaret decides she cannot do this to Andrew and confesses the business arrangement in front of everyone--including the immigration officer handling their case. She is then told that she has 24 hours to get back to Canada, and thus goes back to New York to pack her things. Upon doing so, however, Andrew shows up at the office and confesses his love for her in front of the entire office staff, proposing marriage all over again.
moon r

Only a charisma piece but there's oodles of that charisma. You'll hate yourself for liking it.
Bethany M

One of the best rom coms ever made. Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock are made for eachother, such a beautiful and extremely funny film.
Jennifer X

Though some parts were kinda funny, it was mostly dud joke after dud joke after dud joke.
Matt G

Funny with great performances by Bullock and Reynolds! Oscar Núñez is hilarious as the man with a million jobs. Grade: B
Carlos M

Despite some funny moments and the chemistry exhibited by Bullock and Reynolds, there is nothing fresh in this unoriginal romantic comedy whose humor is more embarrassing than inspired. Even worse is how we are supposed to accept that such a tough bitch becomes the perfect woman… More
Despite some funny moments and the chemistry exhibited by Bullock and Reynolds, there is nothing fresh in this unoriginal romantic comedy whose humor is more embarrassing than inspired. Even worse is how we are supposed to accept that such a tough bitch becomes the perfect woman during a weekend.
Julie B

Perfectly respectable rom-com.
Rachel F

Pretty cute. Betty White makes this film better than it actually is.
Thomas J

Nothing new. No surprises. passes an hour and a half, but do not say it entertains for one and a half hours. Ryan Reynolds does give a great acted lead in a romantic comedy. God bless Betty White - she is GREAT and makes the movie so much more enjoyable!!
Richard C

C+
Alexis N

I love Betty White. I just expected this movie to be cute and funny due to the relationship between the two leads. I was surprised. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. It was a hate-each-other-till-you-date-each-other movie, like You've Got Mail. Adorable and funny!… More
I love Betty White. I just expected this movie to be cute and funny due to the relationship between the two leads. I was surprised. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. It was a hate-each-other-till-you-date-each-other movie, like You've Got Mail. Adorable and funny! ps: Sandra and Ryan have a lot of chemistry. A believable romance!
Dean !

As Rom-coms go this is one of the better ones of the last few years. Kinda mixing Meet the parents with The devil wears prada. Most reviews seem split on the two leads, personally I think they do have a good chemistry in this. Along with a great setting, a strong cast including the… More
As Rom-coms go this is one of the better ones of the last few years. Kinda mixing Meet the parents with The devil wears prada. Most reviews seem split on the two leads, personally I think they do have a good chemistry in this. Along with a great setting, a strong cast including the funny Betty White (Goldengirls) make this a pleasing film. It is predictable, aren't they all? It does have some good laughs along the way as the love-hate-love relationship unfolds. It's an enjoyable feel good comedy with two good leads.
Nani V

Cute movie...I don't know if it was that touching or if I was just emotional that day, but yes I cried. Haha...Don't get me wrong, some parts were funny as well. My favorite part had to be the chanting scene, cracked me up! A great cast that did their part well.
Dead A

This actually made me laugh. I don't really like this sort of romantic movie but this one was funny!
Tim S

Ugh. The big "comic moment" of this film involves a hawk swooping down and picking up a puppy while Bullock runs around on the ground trying to grab it. More depressing watching it after the Oscars and knowing she has one. Ryan Reynolds is Ryan Reynolds. He is Ryan Reynolds… More
Ugh. The big "comic moment" of this film involves a hawk swooping down and picking up a puppy while Bullock runs around on the ground trying to grab it. More depressing watching it after the Oscars and knowing she has one. Ryan Reynolds is Ryan Reynolds. He is Ryan Reynolds in every movie. He has been Ryan Reynolds since Two Guys and a Pizza Place (or whatever that horrible show was called) and has never changed his schtick. They even drag poor Oscar from the Office into this drivel.
Kellie M

I love Sandra and Ryan! The movie had a good story line! Loved it :)