![]() $109 million in 1995/$226 million adjusted (Photo by Warner Brothers/Getty Images) Getty Images Matthew McConaughey and Sandra Bullock in a scene from the film 'A Time To Kill', 1996. Still, the film worked for paying audiences (with a 5x weekend-to-final multiplier) and began a very late-in-life comeback for Betty White as a pop culture darling. The Proposal’s quasi- Taming of the Shrew qualities were iffy then and more so now. And while The Proposal, starring Sandra Bullock as an editor-in-chief about to get deported to Canada and Ryan Reynolds as a long-suffering assistant who agrees to marry her, opened alongside The Hangover, only the latter inspired years of would-be copycats. However, they could still release a high-concept star vehicle that could nab $317 million worldwide on a $40 million budget. Sure, Walt Disney Animation was in a transition period, and Pixar was their most prominent brand. Like Wild Hogs, which just turned 15, The Proposal is an example of how Walt Disney wasn’t always reliant on Marvel movies and nostalgia-driven remakes. $164 million in 2009/$200 million adjusted (Photo by Florian Seefried/Getty Images) Getty Images MUNICH, GERMANY - JUNE 29: Actors Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds attend the Germany premiere of 'The Proposal' at Mathaeser cinema on Jin Munich, Germany. Its unsurprising success ($229 million worldwide on a $43 million budget) was yet more evidence that audiences were desperate for female-led studio programmers. Still, there are laughs to be found, especially the more the film commits to being an R-rated action flick. McCarthy’s hostility creates a “rooting against action” situation, as you want her to get it together and help Bullock solve the crime. Still, too much of the film is either Bullock and McCarthy riffing to each other sans bystanders or McCarthy doing her abrasive schtick against characters who frankly don’t deserve it. Both Bullock (returning to star vehicles following a four-year post-Oscar sabbatical) and Melissa McCarthy (fresh off the breakout star vehicle Identity Thief) are committed. I wish the Paul Feig-directed/Katie Dippold-penned flick were a better, sharper and funnier movie. Sadly, it took until 2013 to get a decently-budgeted female buddy cop comedy. $160 million in 2013/$18 million adjusted Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock in 'The Heat' 20th Century Fox Miss Congeniality may not be a classic, but it’s about as good as we used to expect every A-level theatrical release to be. Whatever, it’s just good Hollywood fun, with game supporting turns by Michael Caine and William Shatner and a flirty love interest turn from Benjamin Bratt. It spawned an underwhelming but-harmless sequel ($107 million/$45 million in 2005) has its cake and eats it too, gently ribbing the beauty pageant industry for its regressive foundations while still noting its potential for character building and progressive ideals. The high-concept genre hybrid (a tough cop goes undercover as a beauty pageant contest to catch a terrorist) earned $212 million on a $45 million budget. It is also the kind of film that Hollywood desperately needs to start making again. This Christmas 2000 hit (10.7x its domestic opening weekend) may be the prototypical Sandra Bullock star vehicle. $107 million in 2000/$177 million adjusted Michael Caine walks with Sandra Bullock in a scene from the film 'Miss Congeniality', 2000. Moreover, Bill Pullman ( Malice, Sleepless In Seattle, etc.) gets the girl for the first time since Spaceballs. ![]() It’s an excellent version of what you expect it to be. Complicating matters is her genuine chemistry with and eventual feelings for the guy’s brother. The film’s high-concept, about a down-on-her-luck toll booth employee who rescues her crush from a subway accident only to stumble into a situation where everyone (including the amnesiac mugging victim) thinks they are engaged. While the press mainly obsessed upon David Caruso and Nicolas Cage’s (pretty good) Kiss of Death remake (and, eventually, Michael Bay’s Bad Boys), this under-the-radar fairy tale rom-com was the year’s biggest pre-summer grosser. There once was a time when audiences would take a liking to an actor or actress in a big movie and then show up in theaters when that performer got their star vehicle. $81 million in 1995/$171 million adjusted (Photo by Buena Vista/Getty Images) Getty Images Bill Pullman and Sandra Bullock in a scene from the film 'While You Were Sleeping', 1995.
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