The good, the bad, and the hot; part 1

I'd better write down my impressions of the movies I've seen lately before the forgettable little confections leave my head entirely. One today, two more soon:

1) The Proposal is a nice, harmless romantic comedy with two lovely people to look at while the predictable situations play out, and the dialogue strives but fails to rise above mediocrity. Sandra Bullock is a mean, high-powered editor at a big New York publishing company; Ryan Reynolds is her secretary who tends to her every work need. When she finds out that she is about to be deported to Canada, she asks him to marry her to keep her in the country, promising a quick divorce as soon as possible. He agrees, hoping she'll pay him back by making him an editor. The two don't really like each other, but as soon as she agrees to join him on a weekend jaunt back home to Alaska (the INS is watching), they begin to fall in love.

The set-up reminds me of Remember the Night, a lovely 40's romantic comedy in which the hard-edged Barbara Stanwyck (a shoplifter) is softened when she spends Christmas with Fred MacMurray's authentic, warm, slightly wacky Midwest family. There is pleasure in the predictable, in seeing the pieces all fall into place, and Bullock and Reynolds whip up some nice chemistry (not to mention sharing a cutesy nude scene), and Betty White has a couple good scenes as the new-agey grandma. But the writing never rises above serviceable--though I do appreciate that the age difference between Bullock and Reynolds is never made a plot point, and I also appreciate that White is funny without having to slip into vulgarity (frankly, I'd love to hear Betty White cuss up a blue streak, but old folks acting like that in movies seems so been-there, done-that by now).

And the ending is totally messed up. Instead of ending in Alaska as it should, the proceedings drag out an extra 15 minutes back to the big city for a completely anti-climactic ending. It doesn't quite ruin the movie, but it smells of too many writers spoiling the plot, or maybe of producers listening to too much audience research. Still, for a fluffy summer romance, it fits the bill, Sandra Bullock is charming as ever, and Ryan Reynolds is so very hot...