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Bullock plays Margaret Tate, a pushy, tough-as-nails book editor who treats her assistant, Andrew, quite horribly.

But Margaret, who's Canadian and has been working in the United States for quite some time, learns from immigration officials that her visa application was denied and she is about to be deported.

Desperate to find a quick fix to the problem, she decides to marry her assistant Andrew. He goes along with the crazy scheme and marries the tormenting woman he can't stand, in return for a big promotion.

But it's not as easy as either of them think, as an immigration agent intends on putting the couple through the wringer to find out if the marriage is legit. To convince him that they're for real, they fly off to spend the weekend with Andrew's family in a small town in Alaska. There, the overly cutesy family is played by Mary Steenburgen, Betty White and Craig T. Nelson.

Bullock, who I always felt has good comedic timing, has fun here going against type playing a meanie. But Reynolds, besides his pretty boy looks, has little else to offer and can't wring laughs out of a script.

The screenplay is often all by-the-numbers and seems to by culled from numerous other similarly-themed romantic comedies. You can see where this story is going most of the way through and the direction by Anne Fletcher also isn't all that inventive.

Despite the movie's predicability, it does manage to have its moments, most of them provided by Bullock. She makes it periodically amusing, and despite Reynolds's flatness in the comedy department, there's no denying that these two do have a certain chemistry on screen.

If you're looking for a date night movie or a chick flick, overall I've seen a lot worse, but I've also seen a lot better.

"The Proposal" opens in theaters this week.

Neil Rosen's Big Apple Rating: 2.5 Apples