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The Proposal | 2009 | PG-13 | - 7.3.4
A pushy boss (Sandra Bullock) uses blackmail to force her assistant (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her in order to prevent her deportation (she's not a U.S. citizen), and he takes her to meet his family whereupon their relationship takes a drastic turn. Also with Betty White, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson and Denis O'Hare. Directed by Anne Fletcher. [2:07]
SEX/NUDITY 7 - Music with suggestive lyrics is heard as a man is shown sitting in a sexual pose, the man begins disrobing while gyrating suggestively on a stage in front of a crowd of women, two women put dollar bills into his waistband, he rips his shirt off, dramatically pulls his pants off to reveal that he is wearing only a very tight and revealing bikini-style pair of underpants, dances seductively around a woman who joins him on stage against her will (he is shown thrusting his groin in her face and pantomiming sex with her as he lies on the floor and thrusts his hips in the air), he takes the hand of the woman and places it in his mouth, sucking on her fingers, and the crowd crudely yells for the woman to smack the bottom of the man and she complies.
► In a shower the outline of a nude female form is seen through the fog; a frontal shot of the nude woman is shown after she steps out of the shower (she covers herself with a small washcloth and cups her breasts with her hands and she is shown from the side). A man is shown bare-chested, wearing a low-slung towel wrapped around his waist, revealing much of his body. A woman is shown having just exited the shower, and her bare upper back and shoulders are shown as she wraps herself in a towel. A woman is shown on her hands and knees, and her shorts barely cover her buttocks. A woman is shown in a tight shirt with a plunging neckline and tight exercise shorts. A woman wearing a form-fitting knee-length skirt and low-cut top bends over and her cleavage is evident. A woman is shown wearing very short shorts and a low-cut, form-fitting tank top to sleep. A woman in a pair of very short shorts and a low-cut tank top pulls a knee-length robe over herself, tying it as she walks. A shirtless man is shown, covering himself with a sheet.
► A nude man and a nude woman are shown colliding, chests closely touching and falling to the ground in a sexual manner; the woman is on top of the man, with his legs straddling her hips (the bare sides of the man and woman are shown, as well as the bare buttock of the man and the woman), she says that the man was "So, so naked," and later, the man acknowledges that the woman had seen his genitals and asks if she liked what she had seen.
► Several people call for a man and a woman to kiss, the man kisses the woman on the hand, the crowd insists that he "kiss her like you mean it" and shouts "kiss her on the mouth"; the man and the woman awkwardly embrace and share a kiss that becomes passionate. A man and a woman are shown in an intimate embrace, staring into each other's eyes longingly and then share a passionate and lingering kiss; another man shouts, "Show her whose boss.
► A woman and a man are shown sharing a bed, the woman rubs the shoulders of the man warmly, and he appears excited, she then suggests that he get out of bed and he declines (implying that he has an erection). A man and a woman are shown in a warm embrace, the man rubs his hands across her back and lingers on her bottom, then playfully smacks her bottom twice. A man climbs into bed with a woman and embraces her, she acts surprised, sits up and says, "Hey now!" (implying that she had felt that he had an erection) and the two continue in a close embrace. A man and woman are shown awkwardly facing one another as to kiss, but their lips do not touch.
► A man is shown taking off his shirt, and his bare chest is shown; he acts out taking off his pants and then acts out taking off his underpants. A woman sings suggestive lyrics while dancing in an exaggerated suggestive fashion, thrusting her hips and shaking her.
► A woman wearing a skirt is shown descending a ladder, and from the angle of the man standing under her it is implied that he is able to see up her skirt (no nudity or undergarments are obvious); the man says, "Looking good, boss," and places his hand on her buttock. A man replies that he "likes this" after instructing a woman to get on her knees in front of him (implying that she is in position for oral sex).
► A woman says that she likes to "keep her man happy" as she feeds him in bed. A man accuses another man of "sleeping his way to the middle," and the accused man insists that he had not used sex to promote his career. A woman hands a blanket to another woman and says that it is called "the baby-maker," inferring that the blanket was to be used during sexual intercourse; another woman says the "baby-maker needs a night off." A woman says that she has "not slept with anyone for over a year and a half." During an interrogation, a man asks another man about sexual positions, and insists that he tell him if he is "top or bottom;" the man then asks the same question of a woman, he then asks the man which side of the bed the woman sleeps on, and subsequently what side of the bed he sleeps on. A woman asks a man if he was "saving himself for someone special" in a disparaging manner during a discussion about marriage. During a discussion among three women references to strippers and being "knocked up" before marriage are discussed. A woman discusses the size of another woman's chest as she gropes through loose fabric to find her breasts. A person uses the term "your wagon is hitched to mine" and a "quickie divorce." A man is shown visibly panting, as he approaches a woman, and she asks why he was panting, wondering if it was a sexual situation. A woman asks if another woman has "fertile loins." A woman says, "It wouldn't be the first time one of us fell for one of our secretaries." A woman accusingly shouts at a man that he spends more time "cheating on [his] wife than in the office." A man discusses the seductive nature of a woman's bedclothes and asks her if that is all she has to wear, implying that they were too suggestive for their surroundings. A man suggests that a woman is interested in a "swarthy, dark" man, implying that she is sexually interested in him and not her fiancé. A man says, "I always get my man," then explains that the comment was not to be taken as sexual. A person finds a message written on a coffee cup, presumably from a person at the coffee bar, which says, "Call me." A woman offhandedly mentions late night runs for Tampax. A woman says that a man is "sexy." A man and woman sing vaguely suggestive lyrics in a comedic fashion. A man and a woman are shown a bedroom with only one bed and are directed that despite not being married, there is no illusion that they sleep in separate beds (the man is shown sleeping on the floor). A voice off-screen is heard asking to enter a room and if the man and the woman inside the room are "decent."
► A fully dressed man pantomimes a suggestive dance in front of a woman and a small group of people. A man implies that a woman has a secret tattoo in a private area of her body.
VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - A woman playfully slaps a man on the face while smiling and under her breath she threatens to cut off his genitals in his sleep (using an obscene term) and the man chuckles and walks away.
► A visibly upset woman steers a speedboat at very high speed, lets go of the steering wheel, the boat comes within feet of careening into a buoy, and a man panics and grabs the steering wheel, jerking the boat severely to avoid a collision. A woman is thrown out of a speeding boat as it takes a quick turn, she is shown stranded in deep water, crying out that she cannot swim, she clings to a buoy and is pulled back on board of the boat.
► A man throws a golf club near the foot of another man and storms away. A woman is shown in the background, handcuffed, and being pulled by two police officers; she is upset and struggles and her muffled cries can be heard through a closed door.
► A man crashes into another man with a thud as he rushes through a crowded office and accidentally pours hot coffee all over the two of them. A man is shown rushing through an office building and slamming violently into an elevator (he's OK).
► An elderly woman is shown grabbing her chest and collapsing to the ground; another woman yells that she is having a heart attack, the woman is quickly taken for medical treatment and she is shown with an oxygen mask over her face (she is OK).
► A woman punches a man in the arm to scold him on two separate occasions. A woman leans over the side of a bed and falls out of the bed (she is unharmed). A woman throws a pillow at a man, the pillow smacks him in the face waking him, and the man throws a pillow at the woman pushing her back.
► A man states that he used to dream that a person whom he disliked would be hit by a bus or poisoned, and their death would be a dream come true. A man threatens another man with being thrown in. People are engaged in multiple terse and emotional shouting matches throughout the movie. A man is shown swinging an axe high in the air, we hear the axe hitting a surface and we see that the man is violently chopping a log and a woman describes him as "chopping crazily." In front of a large group of people, a man openly mocks a woman claiming that she treats others as slaves. A woman is accused of "being allergic to human emotion." A woman is accused, although in a joking fashion, that she eats children. A woman frankly discusses the death of her parents on multiple occasions. A woman says that flowers remind her of funerals. An elderly woman refers to her own death coming soon. A woman jokingly comments that she does not think that two people will kill each other.
► An airplane is shown shaking violently due to turbulence, and some passengers seem distressed -- the plane lands without issue.
► A person is instructed to be careful with a small dog, as eagles could possibly "get it"; an eagle is shown, talons open, grabbing the small dog from the ground and carrying it away, only to drop it into the open arms of a woman (the dog is unharmed); the woman chases the eagle, holding the small dog in the air, calling for the eagle to take the dog back (the eagle flies away). Animal pelts are shown as decoration in a house setting, including draped over couch cushions and on a chair.
► On TV, two men are about to engage in a bout and one man is shown being punched in the face and falling down.
► A woman is shown chewing food, then accidentally spitting the food out (the chewed food is shown coming out of her mouth and hitting a man standing in front of her). Two people openly discuss flatulence.
LANGUAGE 4 - 3 scatological terms, 9 anatomical terms, 8 mild obscenities, people using instant messaging refer to another person as a "witch on her broom" and "it," 3 exclamations (shut-up), name-calling and disparaging terms (the one with ugly hands, sassy, pathetic, broad, poisonous, a monster, freak, Satan's mistress, saying that a person is moving slower than a grandmother, terrorist, a derogatory term for women), use of pet-names in a sarcastic or mean fashion (sweetie, pumpkin, honey), racist remarks are made about immigrants being nothing more than "gardeners and delivery boys," 6 religious exclamations.
SUBSTANCE USE - People are shown drinking socially in a couple of party scenes, people drink champagne, people are shown drinking at a bar, surrounded by beer bottles, a woman takes a long drink of alcohol from a bottle, a man shakes the ice cubes in an empty glass and says that he "needs a refill," a man asks a woman if she takes people out to lunch to "get bombed" and in response to odd behavior a man asks a woman if she is drunk.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - The institution of marriage, divorce, immigration, deportation, felony crimes, dishonesty, family, premarital sex, negative attitudes, manipulation, blackmail, co-workers, treating others with respect, termination of employment, coercion, bribery, death, animal cruelty, physics, Native American spirituality, verbal abuse, sexual harassment, spousal-partner abuse.
MESSAGE - Lies are always ultimately discovered and sometimes reveal more than just the truth.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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