Indecent Proposal (1993)

Director:

Adrian Lyne

Writers (WGA):

Jack Engelhard (novel)
Amy Holden Jones (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 April 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A husband. A wife. A millionaire. A proposal

Plot:

A married woman agrees to have sex with another man for $1,000,000.

Plot Keywords:

House | Architect | Love | Finance | Male Female Relationship

Awards:

6 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Robert Redford	...	John Gage
Demi Moore	...	Diana Murphy
Woody Harrelson	...	David Murphy
Seymour Cassel	...	Mr. Shackleford
Oliver Platt	...	Jeremy
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Day Tripper
Rip Taylor	...	Mr. Langford
Billy Connolly	...	Auction M.C.
Joel Brooks	...	Realtor
Pierre Epstein	...	Van Buren
Danny Zorn	...	Screenwriter
Kevin West	...	Screenwriter
Pamela Holt	...	David's Girlfriend
Tommy Bush	...	David's Father
Mariclare Costello	...	David's Mother

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality and language.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:18+ (Ontario) | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Norway:10 (1993) | Peru:14 | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Benihana Village, Las Vegas Hilton Hotel - 3000 S. Paradise Road, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The role of Diana was first offered to Julia Roberts, who turned it down.

Goofs:

Continuity: When seen from behind, there is no message on the back of the photo. When David turns it around, the message appears.

Quotes:

David: [while playing pool] I guess there's limits to what money can buy.
John: Not many.
Diana: Well some things aren't for sale.
John: Such as?
Diana: Well you can't buy people.
John: That's naive, Diana. I buy people every day.
Diana: In business, maybe, but you can't buy people not when real emotions are involved.
John: So you're saying you can't buy love? That's a bit of a cliché don't you think?
Diana: It's absolutely true.
John: Is it? What do you think?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Jason Lee/Foo Fighters (#31.5)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Out of the Window

Great Premise But...

INDECENT PROPOSAL is a great example of a great premise for a movie - Would you allow your wife to sleep with a complete stranger for one million dollars ? and it's not too difficult to understand why this movie was so talked about on its initial release . Well would you ?

The one problem that the movie suffers from is that Robert Redford was cast as John Gage , the middle aged billionaire who desires the company of Demi Moore's character Diane Murphy . Robert Redford who aged in his mid fifties looks about ten years younger and who still female fans to this day . One can't help thinking that Adrian Lyne would have been far better off exploiting the premise further by casting a much more physically repulsive actor as Gage . Some defenders may claim that Redford equals good box office and certainly this movie did superbly as far as world wide receipt's go , but it's a movie whose main selling point must be the simple central idea and would have perhaps ended up a much better film . It's interesting to note that when women in their late 30s to early 50s answer the question " Would you ? " they usually end up replying " Robert Redford ! I'd go to bed with him for free " .

INDECENT PROPOSAL isn't a great movie despite the great premise and I found Lyne's directing style a bit too 1980s with a couple of scenes that are a bit too pop video for my liking but despite not being the greatest actors in the history of cinema both Moore and Woody Harrelson do enough to make the audience feel for their characters who find themselves in a dilemma . Yeah maybe it's Hollywood trash but it's engaging Hollywood trash