The Proposition (1998)

Longing to have a baby, a sterile 1930s Bostonian hires a man to impregnate his wife.

Director:

Lesli Linka Glatter

Writer:

Rick Ramage

Stars:

Kenneth Branagh, Madeleine Stowe, William Hurt

1 win.

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 U.K. 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:

priest in love | boston massachusetts | bare chested male | title directed by female | two word title | 

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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

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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Quotes

Father Michael McKinnon: You're probably the one person in the world Arthur Barret respects enough to fear, loves enough to kill for.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: The Newton Boys/Meet the Deedles/A Price Above Rubies/No Looking Back (1998)

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Soundtracks

How Do You Do?
Composed and Arranged by Sonny Kompanek

User Reviews

Compelling

Love it or hate it, and the opinions seem to be pretty evenly divided, this is a compelling film because of the performances of three fine actors--Kenneth Branagh, Madeline Stowe, and William Hurt. The story is incredibly far-fetched but, a la Six Feet Under, because it deals with emotions and fantasies we've all felt, it works in some sort of quirky way.

Madeline Stowe is absolutely radiant--confused, vulnerable, strong, passionate. William Hurt perfectly combines the ruthless Wall Street professional and the condescending tenderness of a man of his time. Branagh is a cypher whose screen charisma makes him riveting.

Some of the nitpicking in earlier reviews seems wrong to me. The Mass vestments are exactly right for the solemn high mass of that period, as is Branagh's demeanor. Extreme Unction can in fact be administered for a short period after death, though not, of course, on a corpse in a coffin. In fact, the only reason to open the coffin before burial is so that Eleanor can see who it is that's being buried.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 March 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Shakespeare's Sister

Filming Locations:

Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 15 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$61,560, 29 March 1998

Gross USA:

$147,773

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$147,773

Company Credits

Production Co:

Interscope Communications, Polygram Filmed Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1