The Proposal

Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

This is a light and light-hearted summer romantic comedy, and for the most part delivers the goods, although it’s not without its problems.

Sandra Bullock plays Margaret Tate, a bitchy Canadian book editor, who terrorizes her serf/employees and walks all over her assistant, Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds).  All this comes to a screeching halt, however, when she’s informed that her visa application has been denied and she’ll be deported to Canada and lose her job unless she comes up with a way to stay in-country.

At that moment, Andrew walks into the office, and Margaret comes up with a plan.  It should be pretty obvious what her plan is.  Margaret and Andrew negotiate terms, and a bargain is struck.

The fly in the ointment is the friendly neighborhood INS agent, who smells fraud and vows to prove the two are in cahoots in order to keep her in the U.S.  In order to get him off their back temporarily, Margaret commits them to flying up to Alaska for his grandma’s 90th birthday party.  Grandma is played by the scene-stealing Betty White, and is as funny as ever in this role.

While in Alaska, they meet the rest of Andrew’s family, declare their engagement, and slowly fall for each other for real as they fake it for the family’s benefit.

I would apologize for blowing the plot, but it’s a summer romantic comedy.  They’re as predictable as sunrise, and this one is no exception.  The chemistry is good, the writing is pretty sharp and funny, the supporting cast is good, there’s an interesting twist in that the normal gender roles are somewhat reversed here, and ultimately that’s enough to make it a very enjoyable movie.

On the negative side, much of the time the movie seemed choppy and over-edited, and I got the sensation that some fairly important scenes got left on the cutting-room floor.  The excellent Mary Steenburgen and Craig T. Nelson were underused, and I thought quite a few opportunities for exploring Margaret and Andrew’s relationship in more depth were missed.

But overall this is still a good movie, well worth seeing if you get a chance.

Tags: Movie, Movie Review, Review

Up — Disney/Pixar Studios.  Rating:  5/5 stars

Sunday we went to see Up, the new movie from Pixar.  I went in with high expectations, considering the massive 98% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.  It didn’t disappoint.

Up is the story of Carl Fredericksen, an elderly man who dreamed of exotic, foreign adventures as a boy but who never actually went to the places he dreamed about.

Similar to the otherwise totally different Watchmen, Up uses an emotionally powerful montage approach at the beginning of the film to bring you up to speed — in this case, up to speed with the character of Carl, who without the background might appear like an irredeemable jerk.

But with that background, you can’t help but sympathize with Carl in the situation he finds himself in — to sympathize, and when he finally casts off into the unknown on the marvelous adventure of his dreams, to suspend disbelief and take flight along with him.

There’s plenty here for everyone; although it’s a cliche, it should appeal to folks from six to 106.  As my friend Forest said, “If you understand English, you’ll like this movie.”  And in some cases, that might not even be a requirement.  The movie is visually stunning as well, and the probably-not-quite-aged-two toddler sitting next to us in the theater was remarkably quiet and raptly watching the beautifully-colored scenes throughout the movie.  I think Thomas may have made more noise than she did.

There is lush wilderness, a pack of talking dogs, a hilarious mother bird, a nuanced villain, and plenty of action and laughs.  But under the surface there’s a lot more going on.  There are strong yet subtle messages about how life works — relationships, materialism, reputation, what’s important and what’s not — and about the dangers of obsession and trying to lock yourself away from the curveballs and change-ups you encounter in life.

In the end, Up is a fine adventure — possibly not the same one you thought you were going to get going into the theatre, but maybe all the better for it.  See it!

Tags: Movie, Movie Review, Review