Highly Overrated But Still Good

Expected more

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Did the makers of "The Proposition" set themselves the challenge of coming up with the record number of outrageous plot developments in a single movie? Because they just may have succeeded.Opinion about this movie falls into one of three groups. First are those that think it is a compelling, stylish drama with a fantastic cast – they love it. Second are those who believe it is an overheated piece of rubbish, and a huge waste of talent – they hate it. The third group feels that although it has a great cast and is well acted, it has a deeply flawed story. I go with the third group to a point, although I must admit, despite the craziness of the story, it kept me going until the end. The story is told in flashback by Kenneth Branagh's character Father Michael McKinnon. He tells how he arrived from England in the mid 1930's to a posting as a new priest in Boston's most affluent Catholic parish. He wants to concentrate on helping the poor, but also wants to avoid the Barrets, the richest and most influential family in the parish.Eleanor Barret, played by Madeleine Stowe, and her husband, the powerful Arthur Barret, played by William Hurt, are unable to have children due to Arthur's infertility. Eleanor is desperate to have a child, so Arthur arranges for a surrogate to perform the necessary service for Eleanor. Roger Martin a young law graduate played by Neil Patrick Harris is offered $25,000 to impregnate Eleanor. Although he is inexperienced, an added inducement is that Mrs. Barret is extremely hot. Eleanor falls pregnant, but young Roger finds that he enjoyed the work so much that he would like to continue working for free – he begins to make a pest of himself, and threatens to expose the deal, all of which leads to unexpected developments.While this unfolds, Father McKinnon, no longer able to avoid the Barret's dinner invitations, announces that he is in fact Arthur Barret's nephew. Many other revelations follow in a story that encompasses 16 years.Without spoiling the ending too much, one of the least expected developments occurs when Father McKinnon compromises his priestly vows with an affair with Eleanor. The sight of Father McKinnon in full clerical garb pashing Aunt Eleanor is far removed from Hollywood's classic depictions of priests in films such as "Going My Way" and "The Miracle of the Bells". Although not Catholic, I can't help feeling uncomfortable with the way filmmakers treat the church these days. Although many faiths have had to deal with big sexual abuse problems, I still feel an on screen affair between a priest and a married woman will offend a lot of people. Showing irreverence toward something considered sacred or inviolable by others is the essence of blasphemy, while picking targets that don't fight back is the essence of bullying.Too be honest, this aspect of the plot almost totally eclipses what was already an intriguing plot development involving Neil Patrick Harris's character – it's all just too much.At about the midpoint, you know you can't take this movie seriously. If at the end, it had claimed to be based on fact, I would have fallen out of my chair. But it doesn't, so it's safe enough to just lean back and take the ride, erratic and jarring as it is.

but it might be best to watch this stinker for laughs. After seeing the distinguished cast list, I was prepared for something much better. Five minutes into the "drama", I was wondering if this was actually a Christopher Guest satiric interpretation of a romantic movie. What a hoot!No expense was apparently spared on the photography, costumes, locations and scenery - all are beautiful.Hate to be cynical but I can only surmise that some Hollywood pay-off was involved here, along the lines of if you will direct/appear in/produce this for my girlfriend/boyfriend/niece/nephew/whatever, I will do the same for you.

Did not catch the movie at the beginning, but what drew me to stay was the music. I very much enjoyed the music and the movie. William Hurt is an excellent actor and the storyline of the loves, entwined among the various characters was very moving. The writers did a superb job of portraying real love in a tasteful way, without using explicit sex scenes. I would very much like to see this movie again and perhaps, if available, buy the DVD. Would also like to know more about the music composer and if the music is available to purchase. I came to this site through Google to find out more about the movie. I started with a biography on William Hurt and the movies he played in, as I had failed to catch the name of the movie. The movie was played on IFC thru Direct TV (Satellite). I seldom go to the movie theater, but enjoy watching movies at home.

You know there must be a problem when a recent film appears on TV with a cast that includes William Hurt, Kenneth Branagh, Madeleine Stowe, Robert Loggia and Blythe Danner and you've never heard of it. I guess my suspicions were aroused when the TV Channel shoved it out at 3 o'clock in the morning, but I really didn't think it could be that bad.I was wrong. One of the previous comments summed this film up far better than I could but I would still like someone to tell me who the hell is Blythe Danner supposed to be? The mother, sister, best friend,'Mrs Danvers', I still haven't got a clue. I'm certainly not going to watch it again just to find out..However, by far the saddest thing about this movie is watching talent like Blythe Danner, Madeleine Stowe and William Hurt being wasted in rubbish like this (I didn't miss out Mr Branagh by accident , incidentally). Come on Hollywood, give them something decent to get their teeth into!