Tagline: Here comes the bribe.
When high-powered New York book editor Margaret (Sandra Bullock) faces deportation to her native country-Canada, the quick-thinking exec declares that she’s actually engaged to her unsuspecting put-upon assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds), whom she’s tormented for years. He agrees to participate in the charade, but with a few conditions of his own.
The unlikely couple heads to Alaska to meet his quirky family (Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Betty White) and the always-in-control city girl finds herself in one comedic fish-out-of-water situation after another. With an impromptu wedding in the works and an immigration official on their tails, Margaret and Andrew reluctantly vow to stick to the plan despite the precarious consequences.
Also starring in the summer comedy are Malin Akerman (“27 Dresses”) as Gertrude, the vivacious young woman Andrew left behind, Tony Award-winner Denis O’Hare (“Baby Mama,”) as the determined immigration officer, and Oscar Nunez (“The Office”) as a decidedly unexotic exotic dancer.
It’s All About the Comedy
There was one element above all others that attracted director Anne Fletcher to “The Proposal”-the comedy. “I love comedy so much and it’s always been in my fiber,” says Fletcher. “I was in improv and sketch comedy troops. Comedy makes me the happiest. After directing `Step Up,’ my goal was to do a comedy. But you can’t just jump into it. You have to prove yourself a little bit.”
Fletcher proved herself with 2008’s romantic comedy “27 Dresses.” “I got to exercise my comedy a bit. And then this came along, `The Proposal,’ and it had so much comedy in it,” says the director. “Sandra Bullock is a female comic genius. There really isn’t anybody on her level. I’ve been completely and utterly spoiled by her professionalism, her talent, her mind, her sense of humor, her sense of being. And Ryan Reynolds is one of a kind-Jack Lemmon and Chevy Chase combined.”
Read the Full Production Notes
The Proposal
Starring by: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Malin Akerman, Craig T. Nelson, Mary Steenburgen
Directed by: Anne Fletcher
Screenplay by: Peter Chiarelli
Release Date: June 19th, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, nudity and language.
Studio: Touchstone Pictures
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $162,445,507 (59.7%)
Foreign: $109,810,155 (40.3%)
Total: $272,255,662 (Worldwide)