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John Allman

If you’ve ever wandered the aisles at the video store or surfed the DVR pay-per-view options and seen a bunch of movies that you’ve never heard of, chances are John has watched them. Why? He loves movies. All kinds of movies. Good, bad, so-bad-they’re good, even the truly unwatchable ones. He mostly loves horror and science-fiction and drive-in exploitation movies that most upstanding model citizens wouldn’t dare watch. Then he writes up his thoughts so you can decide - watch, don’t watch or avoid at all costs. Sometimes he even gets to talk to the cool folks who make some of your favorite films.

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John Allman

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The Proposal

Posted Nov 11, 2009 by John Allman

Updated Nov 11, 2009 at 07:24 AM

The Proposal
Genre: Comedy
Directed by: Anne Fletcher
Run time: 108 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Format: Blu-Ray

The Lowdown: Ryan Reynolds plays smart-alecky better than most.

The former “Van Wilder,” with his twinkling eyes and quick quips, strikes the perfect balance between a guy you want to root for and the guy you want to punch.

With his improbably sculpted abs and impeccably coifed locks, he’s a dashing rogue that you just barely believe would tolerate a boss from hell like Margaret (Sandra Bullock).

And Bullock, who has made a cottage industry off low-budget, harmless comedies (Miss Congeniality, Practical Magic, Forces of Nature) finally gets a decent role that showcases her comedic chops.

Sure, the story is as stale as a bag of chips left open overnight: Margaret, a fearsome book publishing executive from Canada who revels in tormenting her staff, learns her visa has expired and she must scramble to find a way to avoid being deported for a year.

The solution: She announces a surprise wedding to her beleaguered assistant (Reynolds) and then bullies him into going along with the promise of helping publish his first novel.

Oh yeah, don’t try to even think about the airplane hangar-sized plot holes. Just roll with the situational comedy that comes from her traveling to Alaska (because apparently Alaska is funny) to meet his family and announce their pending nuptials.

You know the drill: They bicker and fight, love to loathe one another, but over a long weekend away, real love might just rear its head and catch them by surprise.

Throw in Betty White as a potty-mouthed grandmother – a bit of stunt casting that White has turned into her own cottage industry following her expletive-filled role in “Lake Placid” – and you have a fun, if forgettable, romantic comedy that’s mercifully short and occasionally funny.

It’s a better movie than it deserves to be, given how little respect it shows to common sense and originality. But it’s not a bad choice for date night on the couch.

The Stuff You Care About:
Hot chicks – Sandra Bullock, hot or not? Discuss.
Nudity – Brief Bullock buttocks.
Gore – No.
Drug use – No.
Bad Guys/Killers – None.
Buy/Rent – Rent it.
Blu-Ray Bonus Features – Exclusive feature: Additional, deleted scene (singular). Additional features: Alternate ending, deleted scenes, outtakes and “absurdities” reel, director commentary.
Release Date – Oct. 13, 2009