How can you hate a movie that has Kenneth Branagh, as a Catholic priest, who has given in to the weakness of the flesh, saying, "I began to know God thru Elenore...it was she who taught me about faith." Or Kenneth Branagh saying to William Hurt, "You know you needen't feel guilty about this, THE SUN SHINES HERE TOO."(italics, mine) All kidding aside, the cast could have sleepwalked thru this somewhat cliched drama of a wealthy, staid older millionaire, resorting to having a jerk impegnate his beautiful young wife to keep the family line going, having the jerk end up dead, and the beautiful wife meets a charming local priest,,,and then...you know ..and so forth. Get the idea? But what saves the movie, are the acting "chops" of this steller cast: Branagh, William Hurt, the beauteous Madeline Stowe, and Blythe Danner. You can see they're not taking this film lightly. Branagh gets better with every film. He will surely inherit Olivier's mantle very soon. William Hurt definitely has acting greatness in him. His career seems to be on hold. He should be doing big, serious films. Madeline Stowe's beauty is so far above the average anorexic, thong, Barbie Doll, MTV sexpot, as to make them the jokes they have become. She doesn't weigh 27 lbs., AND she can really act. Where is her presence in major filmaking? Blythe Danner works steadily on Broadway and surely deserves an award for a lifetime of top level acting, on the stage, and in the movie house. All in all I enjoyed this film and recommend it to fans of the above great performers. If you like movies based on Dad's boss making him take in the boss's chimp for the weekend, just when the hated insufferable in-laws are coming for a barbeque, and the kids decide to dress up the chimp as Ben Laden, and the fox terrier next door tries to mate with the chimp and start a REAL family, even if the local DA says chimp /terrier unions are heretical to the basic man/women setup, and... and. If you like that kind of movie, "The Proposition" is not for you.
