David Gulpilil, David Wenham, Emily Watson

A law enforcer in 19th-century Australia's outback pits three notorious outlaw brothers against one another.

Flixster Users

76% liked it

60,509 ratings

Critics

87% liked it

121 critics

R, 1 hr. 44 min.

Directed by: John Hillcoat

Release Date: May 11, 2005

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DVD Release Date: September 19, 2006

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Stats: 3,143 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (3,143)


  • September 25, 2009
    This is a beautiful film! Bold and Brutal! John Hillcoat's debut is something quite special and the performances are faultless. The soundtrack is also sublime! Recommended!
  • June 13, 2009
    I am not usually a big fan of the western genre, but this film was very different than the usual western. I think the thing that made this film was the terrific screenplay by Nick Cave. It was brilliant and won a prize at the Venice Film Festival for Cave.



    The plot is...( read more) simple, yet very intriguing. A lawman apprehends a notorious outlaw and gives him nine days to kill his older brother or else they'll execute his younger brother. Guy Pearce has never really impressed me (only once in [i]L.A. Confidential[/i]) and here is no different. There's something about him that is rather boring and flat. Ray Winstone on the other hand is terrific. Even when he doesn't say anything, you know what he's thinking. Brilliant performance by Emily Watson, also. I've never noticed her until a few weeks ago when I watched [i]Red Dragon[/i]. She is a terrific and underrated actress.



    I do believe that this film is a great one, one of the best of the year, too. The only thing wrong with it is Guy Pearce. I really did not like his character, nor his performance. It dragged the movie down. Whenever he came on screen I just wanted the scene to be over with. If they would have had another actor play Charlie Burns, then I might have liked it a lot more.
  • March 19, 2009
    Ranks among the better modern day westerns.
  • February 20, 2009
    "This land will be civilized."

    A lawman apprehends a notorious outlaw and gives him 9 days to kill his older brother, or else they'll execute his younger brother.

    REVIEW
    "The Proposition" is to trade a naive younger brother's life for an older diaboli...( read more)cal brother. Faced with this choice, Guy Pearce sets out to kill or trap his older brother whilst his younger brother is held captive in a small town prison. Whilst the police captain seems an honourable man, with uncommon strategic intelligence, the rest of the townsfolk are possessed with a small town, right wing mentality.

    Set in 19th Century pioneer outback Australia, there is a quirky richness that draws the viewer in. The landscape's sunset coloured backdrop visually dazzles and elicits a sensory surge. You can feel the heat, you can smell the sweat, you can taste the dust. Nick Cave's sound track complements the uneasy feeling you experience throughout this movie.

    The film seems slow to start, but the pace builds not unlike a horse going through its paces. The last few minutes are an exhausting flat out gallop. Looking at the film as a whole, I appreciated the slow context setting and the gradual build up. The acting is first class: I particularly liked the captain. It was enjoyable to see David Wenham play such an unpleasant little man for a change, as his characters are usually so lovable. The violence is rather brutal at times: gasps of shock were elicited at several points in the film.

    Not for the sensitive or the typical Hollywood cinema going types.
  • December 30, 2008
    A western set in the Australian outback, the proposition in question is made by Ray Winstone, a local police captain intent on civilizing the unkempt wilderness. He threatens to hang the younger brother of ex-outlaw Guy Pearce unless he hunts down and kills his older brother, a ...( read more)brutal rapist and murderer. The Proposition looks amazing, and having being written and scored by cult singer songwriter Nick Cave, sounds amazing as well. But somehow, it didn't quite gel for me. The characters are interesting, and the dialogue clever, but the relationships between the characters weren't quite there; it seemed like a collection of self consciously cool individuals and situations rather than a narrative flow. It's very low key in a similar way to The Assassination Of Jesse James and the sudden outbursts of graphic and brutal violence certainly grab the attention, but it concentrated too much on an unconvincing Ray Winstone and his wife rather than the far more interesting outlaws. It's certainly a film worth seeing, but it falls a little short of being great.
  • November 22, 2009
    Truly striking cinematography and a great accompanying soundtrack.
  • November 11, 2009
    Best Sound Mixing 2005 - Best Art Direction 2005
  • November 10, 2009
    John Hillcoat?s Australian western starred Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential, Memento) as one third of a troublesome fraternal gang in the 1800?s Outback, Ray Winstone as the police captain who has sworn to ?civilize this land? and Danny Huston (in a mesmerizingly frightening turn) a...( read more)s Arthur Burns, the brains of the clan who has escaped justice and whom Winstone orders Pearce to turn in in order to save his youngest brother from execution before Christmas Day. Emily Watson also shows up as the distressed wife of Winstone?s law enforcement official. This is a brutal, bloody, occasionally sardonically humorous but ultimately pitiless masterwork of period criminology. A morality play, a character study, a mood piece and a beautifully filmed action epic on a small scale, Nick Cave?s first screenplay (he was lead singer of The Bad Seeds; he also wrote the music) is no less than ingenious!
  • October 26, 2009
    Just fantastic. Another gritty, brutal Australian film. You don't have to feel like a cowboy movie to watch it. This definitely stands out as Nick Cave's masterwork in terms of movies, though he doesn't act in it.
  • October 21, 2009
    The film looked really beautiful and there were a couple of really brutal scenes that were well done and got my attention, but I just couldn't get into the story itself.

Critic Reviews


June 22, 2006
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

A visionary tale of a fragile civilizing impulse crushed by family loyalty and a lust for revenge in the vast Outback of the late 19th century. full review

May 26, 2006
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

Murder ballad for the slice-and-dice age, a film of sensitive artistry laced with gore. full review

May 26, 2006
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

A near-masterpiece of mood and menace, and one that deserves to be seen on the largest screen possible. full review

May 25, 2006
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

Hillcoat creates a vision as nihilistic as any horror film ever put on a screen, but so well acted and carefully conceived that it transcends exploitation. full review

May 19, 2006
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Have you read Blood Meridian, the novel by Cormac McCarthy? This movie comes close to realizing the vision of that dread and despairing story. full review

May 5, 2006
Kyle Smith, New York Post

The quality of the acting, Cave's hellfire score and the heavy atmospherics of the directing merely dress up a cliché: Violence leads to more violence. full review

May 1, 2006
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

Directed by John Hillcoat, it shows humanity striving for a New Testament way of life with a Cain-and-Abel drama on the doorstep. full review

April 6, 2006
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

This Down Under horse opera is violent, grim and stunningly good. full review

January 18, 2006
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

A revisionist Western coated in flies, mud, and sweat that exudes an appreciation for, and fearful awe of, the near-mythic savagery that stands as enlightened society's vicious antipode. full review

View more The Proposition reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • suprabuddha
    August 9, 2008
    Interesting film that works on many levels; civillization vs anarchy, Whites vs Natives, Good vs Evil. Execellent cinematography provides a bleak backdrop of despair for full color murder, pillage and rapine. Be wary or you might find yourself riding with outlaws!!!!
  • Bremaine
    September 23, 2006
    This movie is brilliant in many ways. The acting and the beauty of the land of which the cast is present.

    Also this movie is not as gory as some have been saying. The movie is rarely full of killing or fights. There was only two parts of the film that had gory scenes. Other then that the movie was fine.
  • jbpelican
    August 12, 2006
    Like The Punisher, this film is not for the weak of heart (although is slightly tamer). Its a powerful movie that details a mans struggle to rescue his brother and.........oh you just watch it, what am i your babysitter?

    Justins Best Bit: Some poor blokes head being blown off.

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The Proposition Trivia


  • Charlie Burns must capture and kill his older brother, Arthur, to save their youngest sibling, Mikey. What film is this?  Answer »
  • WHO STARS AS THE ENGLISH POLICE CAPTAIN IN THE MOVIE THE PROPOSITION?  Answer »
  • NAME THE MOVIE SET IN THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK IN 1880'S ABOUT THE BURN'S FAMILY GANG STARRING GUY PEARCE, RAY WINSTONE,AND EMILY WATSON  Answer »
  • Who starred in LA Confidential, Momento and The Proposition?  Answer »

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