The Proposal

Movie name: The Proposal
Year of release: 2009
Director: Anne Fletcher
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Betty White, Denis O'Hare, Malin Akerman, Oscar Nunez, Michael Nouri
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4

Synopsis:
"The Proposal" follows the story of Margaret Tate, a senior executive at a publishing house in New York. Margaret is Canadian, and is facing deportation since she didn't take care of her paperwork in time, and as a last minute resort she decides to forge a fake marriage with her personal assistant Andrew (blackmailing him to it). Andrew comes from a small town in Alaska, where his family is very well off, and both travel there to inform his family of their decision.
This is basically the premise for "The Proposal", the new film from Anne Fletcher who directed previously "27 Dresses" and "Step Up", and whose main career has been as choreographer for several films. This film in particular follows all the formulas and traditional plot points of what is commonly referred as "chick flick". What is interesting is that Peter Weir tackled a similar plot line in 1990 with his "Green Card", which was a lot more interesting and had good performances from Gerard Depardieu and Andie MacDowell. Anne Fletcher ends up conforming to the usual cliches of the genre, and the reason the film is watchable is due to the performers, in particular Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds and Betty White. It's sad to see actors of the caliber of Mary Steenburgen waisted in such supporting and barely there roles, but in the end, this is a film that only allows for some mild chuckles, and that doesn't add much to the genre itself.