Nearly everyone loves a good rom-com. The light-hearted and humorous film genre has given many a reason to sit down for 90 minutes and indulge in a love story that takes your brain away from reality and into a happily-ever-after love story.
It usually takes some trials and tribulations to get there, though. The Proposal is a perfect example of this. And if you like The Proposal, here are 13 of the best movies like The Proposal that you should put on your watch list.
Proposal (2009)
The highest-grossing romantic comedy of 2009, The Proposal stars Sandra Bullock as a bossy, uptight editor who fakes an engagement with her assistant (Ryan Reynolds) to prevent deportation to Canada.
The funny, feel-good film takes the characters to Alaska to meet Reynolds’ character’s unique family. The pair slowly develop a real relationship, and the chemistry between Bullock and Reynolds is undeniable.
While the critics did not receive the film well, most loved the pairing of the two actors.
In fact, Bullock was weary about doing the film in the first place, but once she read the script and it was suggested Reynolds be her co-star, she was in, having known him for a while.
Their prior relationship shined through exceptionally with breezy, comedic performances that were fun and silly.
11 Movies Like The Proposal
1. Just Go With It (2011)
English 1h 57m IMDb
Director: Dennis Dugan
Stars: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Brooklyn Decker
Starring another well-established pair widely known for their comedic roles, Just Go With It tells the story of Danny Maccabee (Adam Sandler).
He is a plastic surgeon used to casual dating, meaning he gets women to sleep with him by pretending to be in an unhappy marriage.
But when he meets the girl of his dreams, Danny convinces his assistant (Jennifer Aniston) to pose as his soon-to-be ex-wife.
Aniston and Sandler were also friends for a long time before they worked together on this rom-com. Though it was a much more knowledgeable genre for the two to work in, it was the first time they’d actually worked together.
In addition to the lead performers having a unique chemistry on-screen due to their off-screen relationship, Just Go With It echoes The Proposal’s moral message when it comes to lying and relationships.
2. Two Week’s Notice (2002)
English 1h 41m IMDb
Director: Marc Lawrence
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant, Alicia Witt
Before The Proposal, Sandra Bullock starred In another workplace romance. However, in Two Week’s Notice, the roles are kind of reversed. Bullock plays an intelligent lower-level employee to Hugh Grant’s arrogant character.
She is essentially called on for Grant’s character’s every single need. Only when Bullock’s character puts in her resignation notice does Grant’s character realize what a jerk he’s been and what he’s losing.
Bullock and Grant bounce off each other well in this film with witty one-liners and disagreeing about nearly everything.
The way they delve into the opposites-attract aspect of a rom-com is greatly displayed with a dislike for each other that turns to sexual tension.
It’s similar to The Proposal in that aspect, as well as the female characters both being independent and strong-willed.
3. The Wedding Date (2005)
English 1h 30m IMDb
Director: Clare Kilner
Stars: Dermot Mulroney, Debra Messing, Jack Davenport
The Wedding Date presents a similar premise as The Proposal. The main character (Debra Messing) faces going to her younger sister’s wedding alone, with her ex-fiance as the groom’s best man, so she decides to hire a male escort (Dermot Mulroney) to be her date.
The two slowly fall for each other turning a fake relationship into something more meaningful.
The film isn’t as full of fun, silly moments as The Proposal, laced with a melancholy undertone and focusing more on romantic elements.
Messing and Mulroney manage to appeal with their relatability. Audiences simply want to see the pair be happy with their lives.
4. 27 Dresses(2008)
English 1h 51m IMDb
Director: Anne Fletcher
Stars: Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Akerman
27 Dresses is probably one of Katherine Heigl’s most famous roles in the numerous romantic comedies she starred in during the early 2000s.
In the film, she plays a perpetual bridesmaid who ends up becoming a wedding planner for her younger sister. A local reporter (James Marsden) is drawn to her interesting story of having been a bridesmaid 27 times.
In a rare turn of events at the time, the film’s writer, director, editor, and star were all women. Director Anne Fletcher also directed The Proposal, which is probably why both female leads are such powerhouses.
Despite their determination, they even share the inner feelings of loneliness and being bystanders in their own lives.
Katherine Heigl has been known to admire Sandra Bullock. She previously stated, “I don’t know her personally, but from what I’ve seen of her and what I’ve read about her, she seems to be one of the most well-spoken, gracious, charming, and funny women in Hollywood. If I could get there, I would like to be just like her.”
5. The Ugly Truth (2009)
English 1h 51m IMDb
Director: Anne Fletcher
Stars: Katherine Heig, lJames Marsden, Malin Akerman
Another one of Katherine Heigl’s early 2000s popular romantic comedies, The Ugly Truth, tells the story of two complete opposites.
Heigl’s character is a dreamer in search of the perfect man, while Gerard Butler’s character is an overly opinionated cynic.
When the two are paired together as co-hosts for a television show, they immediately butt heads. But this tension soon evolves into a passion.
The high-grossing film presented snappy chemistry between Heigl and Butler, with their quick-witted dialogue and snarky remarks.
Like The Proposal, the two main characters in The Ugly Truth have a fiery tension between them that is played out so well by the lead performers.
And yet again, the female leads are sharp women who like to be in control. But differently, Butler presents a man who seems to be on an even playing ground as Heigl, just with a negative mindset.
6. Life as We Know It (2010)
English 1h 55m IMDb
Director: Greg Berlanti
Stars: Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel, Josh Lucas
Continuing Katherine Heigl’s run of romantic comedies, Life as We Know It stars her and Josh Duhamel as bickering acquaintances who become the caretakers for their mutual best friends’ baby girl.
Putting aside the mutual hate they share for each other, the duo comes together and learns how to navigate the balancing act of parenthood, careers, and social commitments.
Heigl is an ideal fit for this role, seeing as just before the film, she became a mom herself. She actually adopted two daughters before having a biological son, so portraying a new parent was a familiar concept for her.
7. Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
English 1h 48m IMDb
Director: Andy Tennant
Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Patrick Dempsey, Josh Lucas
Reese Whitherspoon and Josh Lucas star in this romantic comedy about a southern girl from a small town who must go home to face her past.
Reese Whitherspoon shines as a successful New York fashion designer returning to her Southern roots. As natives of the South, Whitherspoon and Lucas had a bit of returning to their roots to do themselves.
Upon filming, they both had lost most of their Southern drawl since moving from their hometowns and needed to practice their accents to portray the characters from Alabama.
During the film, Whitherspoon’s character reconnects with the man (Lucas) she married when she was in high school. She wants a divorce in the face of an engagement to a hot-shot city man, whom she’s been lying to about her history.
The film matches The Proposal’s message that seeing someone as their true self (in their home environment) is a key component of a strong relationship.
8. Failure to Launch (2006)
English 1h 37m IMDb
Director: Tom Dey
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Bates
In the early 2000s, Matthew McConaughey acted a lead role in a slew of romantic comedies. To his eventual dismay, he was solely identified with these types of roles for a fair amount of time.
One of these roles was s a 35-year-old man who still lives at home with his parents in Failure to Launch. His parents, desperate to get him out of the house, hire a woman (Sarah Jessica Parker) who specializes in getting older men to move out of their parents’ homes.
Failure to Launch shares The Proposal’s knack for kooky comical scenes. There are a lot of punchy moments in each film, especially with animals.
Failure to Launch has a memorable dolphin scene, and The Proposal has a famous scene where Bullock’s character tries to save a dog from an eagle.
More importantly, the films share the idea of family members being able to spot love when the main characters can’t. McConaughey’s character’s parents learn the woman they hire is perfect for their son for him while he remains angry about her deceit.
Similarly, Reynolds’ character’s parents realize he loves his boss after they’ve come clean about their fake engagement and devise a scheme to reunite them.
9. Leap Year (2010)
Spanish 1h 40m IMDb
Director: Anand Tucker
Stars: Amy Adams, Matthew Goode, Adam Scott
In Leap Year, Amy Adams portrays a woman frustrated with her longtime boyfriend for not proposing. When she learns about a Celtic tradition that allows women to propose on Feb. 29, she decides to follow her boyfriend to Dublin and ask him to marry her.
However, her plane goes off course, and she winds up on an adventure with a local Irishman (Matthew Goode) to find her beau.
The film depicts the two as complete opposites. Adams’ character is a successful businesswoman with an uptight nature, while Goode’s character is a pessimistic pub owner of few words.
Adams is the film’s shining star, bringing a certain charm to the screen. In The Proposal, she and Goode’s characters share a similar plotline to Bullock and Reynolds.
Both films feature leading ladies who are too headstrong and consumed in their lives to realize the man right before them.
10. What Happens in Vegas (2008)
English 1h 39m IMDb
Director: Tom Vaughan
Stars: Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Rob Corddry
This romantic comedy stars award-winning performers Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. The two play a couple who get married while drunk in Las Vegas and win a casino jackpot the following morning.
They plan to get a quick divorce and split the winnings, but this plan is foiled by a judge’s refusal to grant an annulment.
What ensues is quite similar to The Proposal. The two must play the part of the happy couple while secretly scheming and blackmailing each other.
Then, there’s a slow build-up to a realization that they have feelings for each other. It’s a pretty typical romantic comedy trope, but nonetheless, light-hearted and fun.
11. Set It Up (2018)
English 1h 45m IMDb
Director: Claire Scanlon
Stars: Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, Lucy Liu
Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell play a couple of hard-working, lower-level assistants in this rather unique romantic comedy.
Upon meeting and realizing their bosses make them work too much, they do a bit of meddling to get their bosses to lighten up on them by getting the overbearing duo to date.
While plotting, they spend so much time together that they become friends in denial of being anything more.
Set It Up is another example of a film where love blossoms unknowingly, simply by being with someone and getting to know them better.
Deutch and Powell’s characters spend all this time together scheming for someone else’s relationship when they’re actually developing their own.
In The Proposal, Bullock and Reynolds’ characters put on a show of being in love, bringing them closer and making them really fall in love.
Also, like in The Proposal, the chemistry between the couple bursts through as the two bounce off each other with witty humor and relatable hardships.
The film portrays a delicate balance of romantic comedy and working life, revolving around the assistants’ jobs as well as their love lives.
Summary
There’s your list of 11 of the best movies like The Proposal that you should add to your watch list. If you love to indulge in romantic comedies, you’ll surely enjoy these light-hearted romances.
Sit back and relax after a long day and take your mind off your own troubles with a humorous and heartfelt flick.
