Limerculer
A waste of 90 minutes of my life
FrogGlace
In other words,this film is a surreal ride.
Brooklynn
There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.
jackcwelch23
A masterclass performance from Guy Pearce, who lets his eyes tell you his story rather than his words as he roams a harsh desolate landscape. Violence and chaos is the rule of the land, where the cops are no better than the crims and a bullet is the only one telling the truth. Danny Huston also gives his best ever role, a character actor who is no household name but defines his career here. Beautiful score from Nick Cave who backs up his debut screenplay with haunting whispers and violin cues signalling the bleakness of a no holds barred time in history. All the supporting roles are effective, especially Ray Winstone as the corrupt and ruthless police captain. The cinematography is the best i've ever seen in an Australian film, where colour and light are presented at their most elegant and stunning, the desert, the town, the rocks, the trees, light up your eyes and stay in your mind. I would love to visit the shooting locations. Wow.The story is terrific from the get go, with the final shot summarising all the themes and ideas that have been built up previously. Masterful filmmaking and a movie that deserves to be recalled as a classic western.
penzzo7
looking at the other titles IMDb users also liked, hardly any of those movies compare. this film is not a cheesy western like 3:10 to Yuma or a good western like Apaloosa. this has a western theme to it but it is way more than that. this type of film will entertain any person looking for fantastic performances and characters. all in all the movie has much more substance than the typical, modern western type movie. the film is dark, suspenseful and has moments of great dialogue. my pick for another solid ARTISTIC western, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES by the COWARD ROBERT FORD. yes the cast has some big names that may turn off some people but it is awesome. enjoy!
Wuchak
2005's "The Proposition" is a Western that takes place in Australia, and it's far from a typical Western.THE PLOT: Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) is the new lawman of the territory and he's determined to civilize this brutal wasteland. In his way is a band of outlaws comprised of three brothers and a few others, but two of the brothers want out after the leader, Arthur Burns (Danny Huston), savagely murders a family in one of his raids. The two brothers are apprehended by Capt. Stanley, who offers a proposition to the older of the two, Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce): Find and assassinate the leader and both will go free. Charlie agrees to the assignment to save his little brother, not to mention he believes Arthur crossed the line when he killed the innocent family, which included a wife with child. Plus Charlie seeks redemption.As far as filmmaking, cinematography, actors, locations, soundtrack & editing go this is a top-of-the-line film with a surreal, haunting edge. As my title blurb suggests, there are similarities to "Heart of Darkness" and the original "Apocalypse Now," although it fails to achieve the greatness of the latter.The story plays out in a realistic manner with long stretches of drama and bleak landscapes interspersed with flashes of extreme violence. Ray Winstone and Guy Pearce are great as the two main protagonists. Capt. Stanley understandably wants to rid the land of the brute outlaws, whereas Charlie seeks redemption for himself and his little brother. Danny Huston as Arthur Burns is captivating as the focal point and villain. Yet he's not a villain in the clichéd sense and he's not one-dimensional. He loves the beauty of God's creation, he loves the art of language and he's a mystic of sorts, but he clearly crossed the line at some point in his outlaw endeavors and now must be wiped off the face of the planet. Will Charlie do it? My only criticism is that the film seems too short. It needed more time for details and character development. As it is, we sort of have to guess the details, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I just wish the film would have gone the route of "Apocalypse Now" and given us more definition and development. Another minor criticism is that I wished they picked someone other than Emily Watson to play Capt. Stanley's wife. Not that she does a bad job in the role; it's just a matter of taste.The runtime is 104 minutes.FINAL WORD: "The Proposition" is one of those films that gets better with repeat viewings, as long as you like the approach of films like "Apocalypse Now," albeit way shorter (too short). I would love to see a Director's Cut that adds about 20-45 minutes.GRADE: B+
Guy
THE PROPOSITION has a great premise. An outlaw is captured alongside his younger brother. The Policeman who did it offers him the titular proposition. Find and kill his elder brother- or else the younger brother will be hanged .Sadly despite this excellent premise and an interesting setting - a Western set in the Victorian Australian Outback - the film throws it all away with poor plotting, uninteresting characters, a lack of respect for those it portrays and an over-long running time.The number one problem is that the screenplay becomes far too interested in the Policeman (Ray Winstone) and places his story on par with that of the Outlaw (Guy Pearce). Instantly the story becomes over-long in order to accommodate this second major plot. It doesn't help that, unlike the Outlaw, the Policeman has no real goal to achieve, no stakes, indeed, nothing much to do at all. This also results in a lack of characterisation for the Outlaw. Stripped of dialogue you cannot care about this enigma of a man, whilst the central question of the film - will he kill his elder brother to save his younger brother? - is never sufficiently teased. The film makes a number of other missteps. It asks the audience to sympathise with the elder brother, despite him being a murderer and a rapist (and showing no real remorse for either). It forces modern attitudes on the past, notably in the corporal punishment scene where the (mentally retarded) younger brother is whipped. At the beginning the crowd cheer but by the end they drift away, sickened. Not only does this not make sense (why the change?) but it is also historically dishonest. Victorians were quite happy with corporal punishment. The disgust of the crowd is that of the filmmakers, not that of the historical people. It also continues the tedious trend of self-hating imperial films in which all the white male characters are swine whilst women and natives are wise and sympathetic (the only character I cared about was the almost silent Aborigine tracker- who was promptly murdered).Nick Cave did the music, which all to often means long, slow, unnecessary shots of Australia set to music. Once might have been fine but every time the story starts moving they throw another of these boring musical pauses in. A handful of sub plots, such as John Hurt's character, serve only to eke out more running time. This film should stand as a perfect example of how 'artiness' can ruin a film.
