The Proposal

Margaret Tate (Bullock) is a socially inept dragon of a book editor, and a Canadian working in America when her visa expires. Unless she can find someone with an American passport to marry her she is going to be deported: this is where her long-suffering assistant Andrew Paxton (Reynolds) comes in. On the condition that he’s promoted and gets his book published he agrees to take part in this sham wedding. Knowing that a government inspector will be watching them, Andrew and Margaret visit his family in Alaska for his grandma’s birthday. Margaret, being a workaholic (she sleeps with her Blackberry), doesn’t understand how to get on with the ‘in-laws’ and much hilarity follows.

These two love-birds obviously do not get on like a house on fire, except in a literal sense, but after spending more time with each other in close proximity they begin to respect and understand one another, as Andrew begins to defrost the icy exterior that Margaret has developed after years of being alone. This plot is classic rom-com and could be quite an average story but the acting in it is superb and there are so many funny scenes involving the brilliant cast. You can’t help but love the slightly nutty grandma (White) and some of the scenes involving Andrew and his father (Craig T. Nelson) and mother (Mary Steenburgen) involve some quality acting.

As someone who is not generally all that interested in this genre I was very much surprised and impressed. It’s funny, has a great cast and some touching scenes and overall I recommend it highly.

Angharad le Duc