The guy at the counter was slightly confused as to why the couple were trying to avoid eye contact

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Betty White, Malin Akerman
Director: Anne Fletcher
Screenwriters: Peter Chiarelli
Rating: PG

Romantic comedy is what Sandra Bullock does best and her new film, The Proposal, which the star also executive produced, adds another well-earned notch to her bed post.

Bullock plays Margaret, a high-powered book editor who has forgotten what human love and compassion is, orphaned at an early age and her heart broken three years before. Hardened by her past, the fearless leadership that she executes, particularly when controlling her team, is frightening to everyone she works with and her assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) has to take the brunt of it. Andrew, meanwhile, desperately perseveres in a position he hates in the hope that he will one day become a book editor himself. That seems a far off dream until one day Margaret is summoned to the boss’ office and told that she will be deported for a year because of complications with her Canadian visa. The only way to stay in the country is to get married – and suddenly Andrew is faced with proposition he can’t turn down.

The subject matter implies more of a gritty storyline but it’s apparent from the opening scene, in which Andrew rushes into work, spills Starbucks over himself and sends an instant message to the rest of the office that “the witch is coming”, all to a jumpy pop soundtrack, that this is not a path Anne Fletcher (27 Dresses, Step Up) has chosen. With a collectively fantastically comedic cast in place, she’s right to ensure that the only “depth” to the film is a heartfelt discussion between Margaret and Andrew, which is finished with a joke anyway.

When Margaret tells Andrew he must marry her in order to become a book editor and save her from deportation, hilarity ensues as the couple try to get to know one another away from the office to prove to immigration that they are really in love. Andrew takes Margaret to meet the parents in Alaska, and it is here that the offbeat couple get to bond through mishaps and goofy scenes in which Margaret tries to fit in with family life – something she has never had.

The Proposal is full of predictable slapstick jokes and it’s disappointing that there’s nothing new here but it’s the great chemistry between the two central characters that makes it work. At a press conference last week in London the stars said that they had known each other for nine years and that their friendship is what made the film really fun and easy to shoot. There’s a scene in which Margaret and Andrew run into each other, stark naked, and the way it is played out is more funny than Iwhat actually happens because, where other actors might be trying to mask their stiffness, you can tell the two had a lot of fun making it.

Betty White is also worth mentioning as Andrew’s hilarious and slightly potty grandmother. Her genuine love for life and positivity shines through in her character and it’s hard not to smile whenever she is on screen. Reynolds isn’t given as wide a birth as we would have liked to fully run with his usual sarcastic behaviour but he is adequately funny, particularly when he and Bullock are bouncing off one another with their wit.

Sandra Bullock told us at the press conference that this isn’t a film that should be taken seriously, all they want is to make people laugh. And so long as you enter the theatre with that mindset, you probably will. Oh and to anyone wondering if the age difference between Sandra (44) and Ryan (32) is at all awkward, it’s something we certainly immediately forgot when we saw them work together.

Here are some interview clips with the stars and director at the London premiere last Thursday.

The Proposal is in cinemas on 22nd July via Disney

By Cathy Reay