[15:01] Tara Ariano: You know, when I said you were going to have to see "The Proposal" for our ongoing Embarrassing Movie Series, you kicked and screamed and whined and protested and generally acted like a big baby. But then when we saw it last night, you were totally charmed and admitted that it had a place in the top five movies you've seen in your whole young life! I am waiting for my apology.
[15:02] Will Edmondson: That could not be further from the truth, but then again, I expect such lies from a Canadian.
[15:03] Tara Ariano: Haha! It's true. You hated it. You were huffing and complaining through the entire thing and CHECKING YOUR PHONE! (How dare you!) When you went to the bathroom I really didn't think you were going to come back.
[15:03] WillEdmondson: Yeah, I had to clear my head. The flask of bourbon I smuggled in helped.
[15:03] Tara Ariano: If you actually had been drinking, you probably would have been in a better mood. I mean, I hope you would.

[15:04] Will Edmondson: Here's the thing: Ryan Reynolds, my beef is not with you. You did what you could, and in some circles, could be considered "charming." Ryan Reynolds, you can be my wingman anytime.
[15:04] Tara Ariano: Yes! He was certainly the best thing about the movie. Also, he's Canadian!
[15:05] Will Edmondson: Betty White: my beef isn't with her either. Nor really Sandra Bullock, who wasn't at her best, but not completely terrible. My problem is with the entire premise of this stupid movie.
[15:07] Tara Ariano: It's funny you should say that. For those who don't know, Bullock plays a book-publishing executive living in the U.S. on a visa. She travels out of the country while her renewal is being processed (not allowed), so her application is denied and she is at risk of deportation. As a Canadian working in media and living in the U.S. on a visa, this movie really spoke to me.
[15:08] Will Edmondson: Okay, right. And Bullock's a bitch. Very important fact. Reynolds is her assistant, whose life is ruined by her.
[15:08] Tara Ariano: How is his life ruined by her? He's ambitious; he works a lot. She's a jerk, but he could try to get another job if he wasn't trying to win a martyr contest.
[15:09] Will Edmondson: Oh, those are his words, not mine. His family tells him "to quit every day," and he hasn't seen them in three years.
[15:10] Tara Ariano: Wah. But leaving that aside, when she finds out she's going to get deported, she hatches a plan to force him into a green-card marriage. WHICH HE ACCEPTS on the condition that she'll give him a promotion he's been angling for.
[15:11] Will Edmondson: Right, but even then, stop right there. If this is the premise of the movie, and she has infinity money, fly to Vegas, bam, movie is over in 15 minutes.

[15:12] Tara Ariano: But they told the INS guy they were going to tell his parents, and had to make him believe their sham relationship was legit.
[15:12] Will Edmondson: Uh huh. Do you know about Russian brides, Tara? Do you not think that there are ways to marry an American in approximately ten minutes?
[15:13] Tara Ariano: No, because I made the tactical error of already being married to a Canadian before trying to immigrate here.
[15:13] Will Edmondson: That aside, this movie's entire premise is completely flawed. But, okay, say I'm completely hammered and I'm not questioning this movie, and I can get behind their impromptu trip to Sitka, Alaska.
[15:14] Tara Ariano: Sure.
[15:16] Will Edmondson: They fly to Alaska, this woman is so blinded by her career and ambition that she thinks eight-inch heels are a smart travel decision. Heels, of course, are NOT ENCOURAGED by the pamphlet in the seat-back pocket in front of you (yes, I read them), but okay, she's a businesswoman, and therefore street-smarts retarded. Right?
[15:17] Tara Ariano: In the world of this movie, it's not stupidity, it's showing she's impractical and citified and that Ryan Reynolds's folksy family needs to help her get more down-to-earth and realize What Really Matters In Life.
[15:18] Will Edmondson: Okay, say I buy that argument (which I do not) and am still on board at this point.
[15:18] Tara Ariano: haha! Okay.

[15:19] Will Edmondson: Okay, so they arrive in Sitka (Population: 8,889) and it turns out that Reynolds's family basically owns the town, and that Reynolds is, as Bullock puts it, "an Alaskan Kennedy."
[15:19] Tara Ariano: Sure.
[15:21] Will Edmondson: And they live in their own Kennebunkport, a sprawling estate with flat-panel televisions and automatic curtains (aside: WHICH ARE A MAJOR PLOT POINT!?!?!)
[15:21] Tara Ariano: When you live in a place where it's light out at bedtime, I would think those would be very important.
[15:22] Will Edmondson: And as Reynolds claims, his parents are rich. But yet, he's so blinded by his passion for READING (not writing, READING AND EDITING) manuscripts that he flees to New York to work for a publishing house...as an assistant. At approximately $25k/year.
[15:23] Tara Ariano: That's his dream and his ambition! And they don't really get into it in the movie, but I have to think there are a lot of people working in media in New York who have money to fall back on because they sure aren't doing it for the paycheck. If he wants to be a book editor, he's not going to do it in Sitka. Why are you mad at him for wanting more out of life than to run the General Store in a town of 8,889?
[15:25] Will Edmondson: Oh, right, but that's not the point. His parents are definitely supporting him, that's not debatable.
[15:25] Tara Ariano: It did look like he lived in Manhattan, so I'm sure you're right.
[15:27] Will Edmondson: But fine, Say you're a rich kid from Alaska, with a dream of "making it" in a dying industry. You work for a horrible woman (who your grandmother calls "Satan's mistress")... and you're used to being the prince of a small town whose family runs the show. And you're not pulling the ripcord yet? You're still blinded by the truth and beauty of the written word?
[15:28] Tara Ariano: Do you REALLY have such a hard time believing that someone who grew up in a tiny-ass town would want to get the hell out? Because I grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan, and even though I could go back there and live like a pasha, I never would.

[15:29] Will Edmondson: I'm from a town of 30,000. I get it. The point I'm trying to make is that if you're a rich kid who doesn't have to take crap, you don't deal with it willingly for three years. Trust me, I'm having a hard enough time here, and I've only been here for one.
[15:30] Tara Ariano: HAHA! If the worst thing that happens to you is that you have to see "The Proposal," you're doing okay in life. Honestly, I came in to work today after a bout of what I'm pretty sure was DYSENTERY and you are still acting like you are the bigger hero for sitting through a dumb movie.
[15:31] Will Edmondson: Do you see what I have to go through, Internet? I have to be regaled with stories of my boss's intestinal ailments. But, this isn't even my biggest problem with the movie.
[15:35] Tara Ariano: Sorry. And that would be?
[15:36] Will Edmondson: Oh, I'm getting there.

[15:37] Will Edmondson: Okay, so now they're in Alaska, and Reynolds is being greeted by his friends and family from home, and he meets his ex-girlfriend from high school and college, who is very hot, nice, and Mother Teresa compared to his awful boss. He obviously is interested in her, follows her when he sees her in town throughout the movie, but yet, he's stuck in the sham marriage scheme to secure his fate in his beloved dying industry.
[15:40] Tara Ariano: He is not "obviously interested in her." They have two conversations. And we also learn that he did propose to her in college and she turned him down. So I think he's over her.
[15:40] Will Edmondson: Oh? So him making goo-goo eyes at her, following her through town, and her coming back for him after the sham wedding, that's what, just natural behavior?
[15:41] Tara Ariano: She came back after the sham wedding to tell him to go after his awful boss that it turns out he might be interested in!
[15:41] Will Edmondson: Oh, I'm getting there. The point is that there's no way that you turn down who's probably the only hot girl in Sitka (and Alaska not named Palin *wink*), when she obviously wants you. That just wouldn't happen.
[15:42] Tara Ariano: SHE already turned HIM down!
[15:43] Will Edmondson: As we recently learned, women be crazy. They change their minds all the time. They are like the Sphinx: they speak only in riddles.
[15:43] Tara Ariano: heh.

[15:44] Will Edmondson: But, okay, fine: Say I'm brain-dead, near-death, catatonic, and enjoying "The Proposal," and completely on board at this point.
[15:44] Tara Ariano: Uh oh, Yes?
[15:45] Will Edmondson: Now, after all of this, we're supposed to believe that Reynolds and Bullock actually ARE in love with each other, and he chases after her to actually marry him. After she gives him the out of outs and leaves him at the altar.
[15:47] Tara Ariano: In the movie's defense -- and, understand, I'm not saying this is a classic for the ages -- where it ends up is that he says he will marry her so she can stay in the country because he wants to date her. At least they don't go so far as to claim these two are ready to be married for real yet.
[15:48] Will Edmondson: Uh, until the interviews at the end of the movie, when Bullock and Reynolds insist they actually are getting married, and that they're doing it for real, even when you ask them about it four different ways
[15:52] Tara Ariano: But they admit that they just started dating the previous week, and...you're right, it makes no sense.
[15:52] Will Edmondson: Oh, I'm well aware. But, let's drag this movie to hell (TM) for the fun of it: We're led to believe that this guy agrees to a sham marriage to his boss (whom he hates) in return for a promotion in an industry that even if he does everything right will mean nothing in ten years. And over the course of a WEEKEND, he falls madly in love with said boss, despite having a hotter, younger, more familiar option, in a town that considers him a deity.

[15:56] Will Edmondson: Game, set, match, "The Proposal" sucked. On to "Transformers 2"!!!!!!!
[15:56] Tara Ariano: I'm going to behave so poorly in that movie and ruin it for you. See how you like it.
[15:57] Will Edmondson: I won't sit with you, I'll be sitting in the front row so I can get the best look at my girlfriend Megan Fox and her toe thumbs.