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Proposition (The)
R2 - United Kingdom - Simply Media Review written by and copyright: Matthew Crossman (7th July 2016). |
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The Film
 Hannibal Thurman (Robert Loggia) seeks out, and finds a priest in the Catholic Church called Father Michael McKinnon (Kenneth Branagh). The reason behind seeking him out is that Hannibal's employer and friend Arthur Barrett (William Hurt) has died two days previously and has left a last will and testament asking that Hannibal seek Father Michael's blessing and then tell him the circumstances behind the need for the blessing. Father Michael then begins to recant a tale that took place some years previously. It is now sometime in the 1930's and Father Michael has been sent to a church in Boston. Father Michael is originally from England and did not want to go the church in Boston but his domineering Father has engineered it so. As Father Michael tells his story (via voice-over) we are informed that the church and it's parish is an affluent one and it's most affluent member is Arthur Barrett, a man Father Michael has no wish in seeing. We next meet Roger Martin (Neil Patrick Harris). Roger is twenty four years old, well educated and much sought after in the job market. He is meeting with Hannibal on the anticipation of a job offer. A job offer is made but it is not what Roger expects. It is explained to him that Arthur Barrett and his Wife Eleanor (Madeline Stowe) are unable to conceive a child and this is the biological fault of Arthur. Eleanor is desperate for a child as much as Arthur is desperate for an heir and more than that Eleanor wishes to experience childbirth thus ruling out adoption. The only solution is that Roger is hired to impregnate Eleanor. Roger initially reacts to the proposal with indignation but soon changes his mind when he is informed of Eleanor's beauty and the small matter of $25,000 dollars in payment for services rendered. That night Arthur leaves the family home, not being able to bear to be in the same house whilst his beloved Eleanor makes love to another man, and Roger arrives. After overcoming such obstacles as his chronic shyness and being embarrassed about having an erection in Eleanor's company Roger manages to perform the task to which he was employed to do. A month later and Eleanor is not pregnant much to the distress of herself and Arthur. Arthur once again employs the services of Roger who now has fallen in love with Eleanor, much to her distress. Shortly after Eleanor becomes pregnant with Roger's child and all contact is ceased with Roger. Roger however cannot bear the thought of not seeing Eleanor any more and continues to pester the household with phone calls. Finally Roger turns up at the house and threatens to ruin Eleanor and Arthur but making the circumstances of her pregnancy and this is something that Arthur cannot allow. When 'The Proposition' was initially released in 1998 it was met with critical derision. Consequently the film completely bombed at the box office and sunk without trace. In the late 90's, as now, I was an avid cinema goer as well as owning and renting an extensive video tape library So I was a touched surprised when I received this film for review as I had never heard of it before. As you can see from the synopsis above the cast is a very good one. Branagh himself was a very popular director and actor with critical and box office hits especially his Shakespeare work. Madeline Stowe had won plaudits for her roles in films such as 'The Last of the Mohicans' and 'Twelve Monkeys' whilst Hurt had had critical success with 'Kiss of the Spider Woman' and 'The Accidental Tourist' so we were talking about an experienced cast. So as I sat down to watch 'The Proposition' I had already formed the basis of a review in my head. A fairly negative one. However, upon completing the screening of the film I feel it's been quite maligned. Certainly the movie has it's problems but it also has plenty of shining moments too. The first half of the film's 100 minute running time especially is decent. Their are some nice comedic moments and the audience can certainly feeling empathy towards Eleanor and Arthur's predicament (even if they do not agree with their final course of action). Neil Patrick Harris as Roger supplies many of the amusing scenes as he fumbles his way around Eleanor. The script is rather ham strung though and the option of Branagh doing a narration/voice over to move the plot along is a lazy device I feel best avoided. The second half of the film is where 'The Proposition' loses it's way. All of the characters make questionable choices and consequently the audience end up having no character to act as their persona on screen and we just end up not caring anymore. The storyline of this movie, in many ways, echo that of 'Indecent Proposal' (1993) and in many respects both suffered from the same problem of having likeable characters in the first half of the movie which turn into insufferable pricks in the second half. The production design of the film, depicting post depression Boston, are very good and there is a lot to like about 'The Proposition' but it's a deeply flawed film.
Video
The DVD disc from Simply Media presents the film in it's original anamorphic aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The picture quality is acceptable if unspectacular with it's outdoor scenes set against an autumnal forest being the highlight with the oranges and browns of the leaves. There is no noticeable damage on the print as I would expect from a reasonably recent film.
Audio
The Audio soundtrack on this disc is available in two option. Here we have the Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mix as well as the superior Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. The 2.0 is fine if a little flat but the 5.1 is quite expansive. The sound of raindrops on window panes and in trees is a very good effect and does envelope the view. The score is presented well and is quite strong. On that note it's worth, I think, pointing out that the leitmotif of the score is very overused in that by the end of the film it was starting to grate on my nerves. Their are no subtitles available on this disc.
Extras
None.
Overall
A flawed but still enjoyable period drama but a stunning cast saddled with a, at times, laughable script. The cast do their best with the wooden words they are given to say and the film looks good and you can see the money spent on the film on the screen. The second half of the film lets the side down along with the lazy narrative device used throughout but not the complete disaster that other reviews would have you believe.
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