A Masterpiece!

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

What would you do if you and your partner, who you loved dearly were in some financial difficulty and in order to alleviate your difficult circumstances a stranger offered you one million for one night with you? What would you and your partner do? Would you immediately dismiss the proposal, regarding it as preposterous? Would you accept basing your argument on it being only a one-night stand and therefore meaningless? Would you do it for the much-needed money? Or would you refuse saying that money cannot buy love and that such an act would reduce you to the likes of a prostitute?Confused? Well that is exactly the complex story this film weaves excellently. With a thought-provoking script that manages to challenge our every day perceptions of love and money and the depths we'd go to achieve them, along with some seriously moving moments guaranteed to shed a few tears from the female members of the audience and even managing to throw in a few comic moments this film is something special. A moral dilemma and it's repercussions on relationships and lives is played out with strong performances from the leads. Gripping, heartbreaking, entertaining and thought provoking, this offers a lot more than much of the 'fluff' produced today.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

INDECENT PROPOSAL is one of those movies that pretty much spells itself out. You know what kind of provocative early '90s movie you're getting yourself into, and it doesn't take long to put the pieces together as to how things will turn out. Young couple needs money for their dream house, meets really rich guy who wants one night with the pretty wife. Five minutes' worth of deliberation ensues before they accept the offer and then it's the bad news of distrust, infighting and marital implosion from there. What makes this movie tough to swallow is . . . well, it's mostly the script. These aren't very sympathetic characters (c'mon, Harrelson, you have a wife that looks like that and you think you'll be okay after turning her out for a million bucks? Don't be an idiot!), and it makes their choices in the film's 1st act hard to stomach. Really think you're gonna net all the money you need in Vegas? Seriously! But the other reason is Robert Redford. He's all wrong for the part of absurdly rich and sociopathic John Gage, who buys other guys' wives like he does cigars and speedboats. The actions of this guy and the dialogue that comes out of his mouth are deplorable; but that doesn't suit Redford, whose boyish charm and likability runs completely counter to the character we're supposed to despise. Aside from Woody Harrelson's terrifically tortured performance in this movie, INDECENT PROPOSAL doesn't have much (if anything) to offer beyond the water-cooler appeal of its taboo hook: Would you let your wife spend a night with another man so you can pay your bills? It makes for a good five-minute discussion about morals (maybe), but it doesn't support a two-hour movie. It's hard to be mad at this movie when the cards are seemingly all on the table from the get-go, but it's still an aggravating two hours. Not a fan of any of these characters, even though I'm supposed to root for Harrelson and Moore (who looks stunning in this movie), and it just feels so trashy watching this thing. 4/10

This movie would be realistic only if the wealthy person offering the indecent proposal was Ernest Borgnine rather than Robert Redford.The setup where the couple get into 'hopeless' debt shows the short sightedness and "want it now" of American society. The get-rich-quick approach is also endemic of modern Americans. That part of the script was believable. However, to be realistic - when they went to LV to win money (yup, everybody wins a ton of money in Vegas) - they should have lost it all and wound up prostituting themselves for food money. Having Robert Redford offering a million dollars - OY! - I laughed out loud when that hit the screen.

Diana (Demi Moore) and David Murphy (Woody Harrelson) are high school sweethearts and married couples. He's an architect and she's a real estate agent. When a recession hit, the bank calls in their loan and they are set lose their home. They go to Vegas to win the needed cash. Diana catches the eye of billionaire John Gage (Robert Redford). At first they win, but eventually they lose it all. Gage starts to worm his way into their relationship ending up with the indecent proposal.The premise is all titillation and no drama. Moore and Harrelson play up the romance as best they could, but there is a lot of cheese in the style. I didn't care for the voice over narrations. Most of it was unnecessary. Director Adrian Lyne seems to do a lot of these sexually provocative movies. He does so sincerely that he's always in danger of a high cheese factor. Another major problem is that the movie's obvious premise forces the audience to wait for Redford's big question. It's very tiresome waiting for it, and it's tiresome to listen to discussions about it. Then there is the ick factor in the story. I'm not a prude but it's just annoying having Oliver Platt yammer on and on. Then Woody Harrelson turn on the jealous acting to full. The emotions from the couple rings all wrong. It's very melodramatic. The best thing here is the suave Robert Redford. He manages to do this character without blinking. That's real commitment to acting.