Release Date: June 19, 2009

(out of 4)

For movies that are supposed to make you feel good, the genre of romantic comedy has become the most squirm-inducing and demeaning experience one can have at the movies (have you seen Matthew McConaughey or Patrick Dempsey’s arrogance or contempt at work lately?), and if anything, the intelligence level is dialed way down so that you barely have to peel an eye open to follow the story on one of these things. What’s so surprising and off-guard about "The Proposal," the new rom-com with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, is that it’s made with intelligence and is based on some semblance of human truth.

The characters are more than just halfway real, they’re almost, uh, 90% real on my reality-meter. Bullock (seen last in “Premonition”) is a cutthroat New York book editor who’d rather fire an employee than go out on a date, and Reynolds (seen last as Deadpool in “X-Men: Origins”) is her over-worked executive assistant. The entire staff, in instant messenger transcript, vehemently loathes this shrew Margaret who doesn’t have a soft spot for anybody (eventually she reveals her favorite book, thus, a soft spot). Andrew is a three-year assistant who shields his personality at work because his slave-driver boss doesn’t permit ego anywhere near her presence.

The concept of the movie is that Margaret is Canadian, and her visa is expiring. The publishing company will let her go not unless an immediate solution is brought up. She prompts, no orders, Andrew to marry her. The charade begins on the spot when Margaret reveals to the board that she’s had a secret office affair with her assistant. Andrew, hardly overjoyed, plays along because if he’s going to get blackmailed by Margaret’s shotgun wedding idea then perhaps he can demand something – like a promotion and a raise. Bullock and Reynolds’ acting in these early scenes are bright and spot-on, with neither actor going in for stupid patronizing expressions. These two play their scene like, um, real people would play this scene.

In three days, Margaret and Andrew are going to be quizzed by immigration authorities about the soundness of their engagement. They fly off to Alaska so Margaret can meet Andrew’s folks (Mary Steenburgen and Craig T. Nelson play appealing and well-established parents) and Grandma (Betty White, a real scene-stealer and worth an Oscar nomination). The folks are surprised that Andrew’s girlfriend is his boss. They are further surprised when Andrew explains that she’s not just a girlfriend, but a fiancé. There is real bruising tension between father and son, with the father trying to over-instruct his son on how to live his life.

Margaret, fish out of water, leaves her judgmental condescending back home and revels in the company of Andrew’s family. Then there’s the obligatory farce that’s done well – they’re husband and wife to be so they must share the same bedroom. At the obligatory morning knock on the door requires for Andrew to jump off the floor and into the bed with his would-be fiancé. Funny before and after conversation is embedded from the above-average script by Pete Chiarelli, and the above-average direction by Anne Fletcher keeps the deception humor rollicking.

The comedy is so discerning that no gratuitous lewdness has found its way into the film. Yet the comedy is so sure-footed in honest human behavior that not much else needs forced, although a gag with an eagle snatching a cell phone is a rare script offense. Even Betty White’s Native American early riser dance seems plausible for what that character likes to do. The overall arc of the movie is predictable because we all like happy endings, but “The Proposal” keeps its evolving dilemmas clever and zestful. Bullock (her best performance, in like, forever) and Reynolds (his best facial reactions and best acting of his career) deliver their customary personas with zip and yet don’t sell out the true cores of their characters. The biggest shock however is that Hollywood made a romantic comedy that isn’t retarded. I, for one, forgot how satisfying a romantic comedy could be if done well.