The Proposal Movie Review

Jennifer Esposito (Summer of Sam) has a long way to go to reach the A-List if she keeps making direct-to-video pap like The Proposal. Ostensibly a crime thriller where the duplicity runs so thick you just don't know who to trust, The Proposal is really just a cut-rate cop drama with one too many arbitrary plot twists thrown in.

Esposito plays a sexy young cop assigned to help an undercover agent (a mousy Nick Moran) infiltrate a crime ring by posing as his wife. Uh-oh, the mob boss (Stephen Lang) is so devilishly handsome and dashing he puts the moves on the naïve Esposito! Meanwhile, Esposito has entered into a wholly unbelievable romance with the annoying-beyond-belief Moran, ultimately taking the film to an even more unbelievable resolution amidst the inevitable hail of gunfire.

Amateur production values, straightforward performances, and a dull story conspire to make The Proposal eminently forgettable, Esposito's bared-thigh photo on the cover of the video notwithstanding.

If you're up for more tedium, check out the making-of featurette on the DVD (not even five minutes long!) or the dry-as-dust commentary track by director Richard Gale.