Movie Review: The Proposal (2009)

proposal poster

Plot:  A pushy boss forces her young assistant to marry her in order to keep her visa status in the U.S. and avoid deportation to Canada.

Rating: 7/10

It seems that I can put movies into two categories in my life – what I saw before the blog, and what I saw after I started the blog. There is some time difference (I think I started here in 2011/2012), so most of the things in the “before” section needs to be looked at again.

The Proposal is one of those films. For some reason didn’t enjoy it back then. I think I was convinced that Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds had no chemistry on screen. It’s not true though – they worked well together. Can I just be a bit happy for the challenged gender stereotypes in here? Bullock is the total boss and Ryan is her assistant and I was just like yasss queen.

proposal1

Most romantic comedies have some gaping holes that should have been stories though, and The Proposal doesn’t really escape from that. I would have enjoyed seeing Andrew’s relationship with his dad being addressed as it was obviously full of anger.  It was sadly just used as a ploy to get Andrew to connect more to Margaret. I’m very confused why Gertude (Malin Ackerman) was named Gertrude and why the hell she was even in this story. She’s obviously Andrew’s old girlfriend, and that’s fine, but why is she only that? Like, she doesn’t cause Andrew to question what he’s doing, he doesn’t seem to b aware of her existence, nothing. It also seems that Malin Ackerman’s main claim to acting is walking into a room and to smile, waiting for the other characters to notice how pretty she is.  It’s mean, but I’ve yet to find a role where she actually has a purpose.

I really enjoyed Betty White as the grandma, she was a complete scream as usual. This woman has just seemingly spent her entire life being a complete joy to everyone around her, and I liked that her character wasn’t just this old granny, she had a ton of personality and opinions.

I definitely enjoyed this film. It seems I’ve given it quite a high rating with a seven, but films should be judged within their genre, and whether you had a damn good time. And I say YES to both of these questions!

proposal kiss

July 2016: Watched, Read, Loved

Gosh I’m glad it’s August! I am over the cold in Johannesburg. For reals man. July was a pretty decent month. I got to see my bestie, and even though the circumstances weren’t that great, I am grateful that I at least got to spend some quality time with her.

Personally I think my eyes finally cleared with a few people in my life – there is a certain level of selfishness I can’t tolerate, and this person finally reached it. I should have cut ties ages ago, but when I bond to someone, you really have to nuke me out of it. Well, I’ve been nuked.

Hmm, what else? I’ve had a couple of hectic weekends and it reflected on my scarcity on my blog, which always happens and always frustrates me. I’m going to do my very best to post more often, as it makes me super happy.

And here’s a rundown of what I’ve been watching and reading. Enjoy, and tell me below what you’ve been up to 🙂

Watched:

At home:

Proposa

The Proposal

I saw this film before I opened this blog, and I have always thought that it was an okay film. I actually really enjoyed this so much when I watched it again. Queen Sandra Bullock and a very young and adorable Ryan Reynolds certainly make an interesting couple onscreen, and I thought the dialogue and hysteria was spot on and funny in the film.

Wedding planner

The Wedding Planner

Oh, Maththew McConaughey has a few gems under his belt before he started being all badass in things like True Detective and that other horsey movie that everyone liked. This is a boogy, definitely, and it was silly enough that I got quite annoyed. There were a few pros, which I will mention when I review the film soon, but let it be noted that Jennifer Lopez is a fantastic singer (for her genre) but acting should never be part of her repertoire.

 Valentines day

Valentine’s Day

VD worked well, and it is surprising because the film is packed with actors and actresses, and that rarely works. Mostly it is just a situational feel good film, but there is nothing wrong with that!

 Runaway_Bride

Runaway Bride

I’m on such a Gary Marshall/Julia Roberts run, it is not even funny. They do seem to be a dream team, because when they get together there always seems to be some romantic comedy as a result that is actually enjoyable to watch. Between this and Pretty Woman I enjoyed Pretty Woman much more, but I definitely liked this.

Skyfall

I already reviewed here, and if you haven’t read it yet, rest assured that I really liked this Bond film. It’s my second favorite after Casino Royale, and I must say, I am really surprised how much I’ve enjoyed all these films.

 Ugly truth

The Ugly Truth

It’s really ugly, and it’s really bad. The awful dialogue results in awful acting, I’m not really blaming our leads here at all, it’s just a shit film with crap writing and is as believable as anything Donald Trump says.

 27dresses

27 Dresses

JAMES MARSDEN. You have no idea the amount of hilarity this man causes in my family. I really like him, but his dress sense in this film was absolutely awful. Like, AWFUL. It is also a depressing movie – I will shoot myself before I’m a bridesmaid 27 times, it’s just not right or fair. I love our girl Katherine Heigl in here, and thought there were pretty good moments between the rapid romances and problems being solved easily.

In Cinema:

The Legend of Tarzan:

Tarzanposter

I reviewed this one here. It’s man candy season in this film. I’m not gonna lie. However, it isn’t nearly as bad as the trolls want you to believe, and I am still calling it the most pleasant surprise of 2016.

Series:

VDS4

Vampire Diaries Season 4

I finally switched it back on! It was a time issue, not because I’m struggling to watch it. It is still quite a solid show, but there are a few dips, something that probably can’t be helped when you travel this far into a show. I’ll post all the reviews once I’m done watching, then I can do them consecutively across a couple of weeks : )

Books read:

The Obsession – LOVED this!

Honest Illusions – It was okay – review here

Currently reading:

I’m actually in the middle of way too many books! I am reading Twilight again (the shame, I know) and I am definitely enjoying it more than Blood Bound (Rachel Vincent). I can promise you, when I get through this book, the review will be up here in no time and it will be a bad one – this book is so stupid. It is taking me ages to get through it, a damn shame because it is supposed to be a quick read.

So there it is – I am way behind on everything in life at the moment, but at least I got to do see and read some great material! What have you been up to?