The Proposal

No, I did not recently get engaged. But I did watch Sandra Bullock pretend to do so, and it was interesting to say the least.
Romantic Comedy must be a tough genre for screenwriters; it has to be hard to come up with something new that has never been done before, especially when the audience basically knows how everything is going to come out. Several new titles come out every year, and the previews always make them look so good. They do pretty well at coming up with a new situation, but it still seems to be the same story again and again. Yet we still keep coming back, demanding more.
Finding love and being in a romantic relationship is a story that everyone can relate to or at least somewhat desire. We gravitate towards things and ideas that we can relate to our own stories, so we keep coming back to this idea of finding love that can satisfy us. That could be a discussion in and of itself: how another person can never fully complete you or fill the holes in your life. But going back to The Proposal, I was hoping to enjoy that connection, looking for that same familiar story that I've heard in slightly different ways so many times. Instead, I walked away shaking my head. I found it kind of strange.
Yes, we have a single guy and a single girl. They hate each other, one does the other a favor, there is conflict, and in the end they fall in love and are planning their wedding. But between the awkward waiter/cashier/exotic dancer, the ridiculous immigration officer, and the wacky "Gammy," I lost the connection and felt it was a little much. Maybe it's just not my kind of humor; I didn't think it was one of Sandra's best. While I did enjoy a fun evening with friends, The Proposal made me want to say no.