The Proposition (1998)

Father Michael McKinnon goes from the UK to Boston circa 1935. For unknown reasons, he avoids at all costs the most prominent parishioners, Arthur and Eleanor Barret. Meanwhile Eleanor and ... See full summary »

Director:

Lesli Linka Glatter

Writer:

Rick Ramage

Stars:

Robert Loggia, Kenneth Branagh, Madeleine Stowe

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Loggia	...	Hannibal Thurman
Bronia Wheeler	...	Sister Mary Frances
Kenneth Branagh	...	Father Michael McKinnon
Madeleine Stowe	...	Eleanor Barret
William Hurt	...	Arthur Barret
Ken Cheeseman	...	Wayne Fenton
Jim Chiros	...	Timothy
Dee Nelson	...	Susan Vicar
Pamela Hart	...	Skip Taylor
Wendy Feign	...	Maid
Blythe Danner	...	Syril Danning
Dossy Peabody	...	Hannibal's Secretary
Neil Patrick Harris	...	Roger Martin
Thomas Downey	...	Torrey Harrington (as Tom Downey)
Tom Kemp	...	Arthur's Chauffeur

Storyline

Father Michael McKinnon goes from the UK to Boston circa 1935. For unknown reasons, he avoids at all costs the most prominent parishioners, Arthur and Eleanor Barret. Meanwhile Eleanor and Arthur desperately want to have a child, but Arthur is sterile, so they hire Harvard law student Roger Martin to impregnate Eleanor, but unfortunately Roger falls in love with her.

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Plot Keywords:

last rites | dinner party | nun | infertility | uncle nephew relationship | 

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Taglines:

One man gave up everything he owned. The other, everything he believed in.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexual content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 March 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Shakespeare's Sister

Filming Locations:

Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$61,560 (USA) (27 March 1998)

Gross:

$121,875 (USA) (3 April 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Interscope Communications, Polygram Filmed Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Scott Wolf and Matt Damon were considered for the role of Roger Martin.

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Goofs

The glass with juice jumps from one hand to the other when Eleanor is having her breakfast in bed.

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Connections

Referenced in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Second Thought"
Composed and Arranged by Sonny Kompanek

User Reviews

LOVE this movie, despite minor imperfections.

This movie is visually stunning and very well acted by the WHOLE cast. I think it is better seen at home where you can go back and watch portions over again, because in some scenes you must hear every word and pay attention to body language and expression quite closely or the plot can easily lose you. Bad acting or directing would have made this movie impossible to understand, because the writing is extremely subtle. I think the directing and acting is amazing because of what it conveys without language. (Some of the negative reviews were written by people who did not pay attention to key things are explained in few or no words, once, and once only, or to things that were shown only through non-verbal language. You must look and listen the whole time.) It does have the tragic-amazingly-coincidental stuff going on, but so what? It is entertainment, for goodness sakes, not a documentary! Apparently someone who was involved in making it is embarrassed, because it is impossible to get it on DVD in American format, which is a real shame. I love this movie, and am very sad not to be able to watch it since my VHS player broke. It always absorbs me and lets me forget about my own life for a few hours. I like to watch it once or twice a year, and enjoy sharing it with friends who have not seen it. It has been enjoyed by many people I know, but some did say that my pointing out key scenes was necessary for them to follow the plot. A few friends really did not like it, but none of those particular friends like tragic drama in general. I will continue to look for it on DVD every several months, and I will be looking to fix or replace my VHS player just so I can watch this and one other movie that I also love and can't get on DVD.