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Movie Overview
Cast
• Guy Pearce
• Ray Winstone
• Richard Wilson
Director
• John Hillcoat
MPAA Rating
R - strong grisly violence, and for language
The Proposition (2006)

REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
OFCS Rating: 93% Fresh
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"The Proposition depicts male brutality, both within and without the confines of the law, in a beautifully measured way that doesn't kill the intensity of the narrative--wild contrasts, ironic similarities, and all."  Blogcritics.org  Alan Dale

"a mythic exploration of the ever shifting frontier between savagery and civilisation in an unforgiving landscape."  Eye for Film  Anton Bitel

8/10
"An uncompromising vision of the hell that was Australia's early frontier, The Proposition is a mesmerizing piece of poetry disguised as a brutal, fly-encrusted western."  Freeze Dried Movies  Brian Juergens

"The finest, strangest and most uncompromising western to hit screens since Unforgiven."  Film Journal International  Chris Barsanti

4/5
"a breath of dusty air in what has been a surprisingly mundane movie year,"  Filmcritic.com  Chris Cabin

"While Charlie's aim might appear to be less objectionable than Lamb's, the film's circuitous, implacable series of events -- less a plot than an accumulation of horrors -- suggests that intention is, at last, irrelevant."  PopMatters  Cynthia Fuchs

2.5/4
"Beauty, brutality, some sly social commentary... plus another sweaty, shirtless performance from Guy Pearce highlight this Aussie western from the pen of Bad Seed Nick Cave."  rec.arts.movies.reviews  David N. Butterworth

2/4
"...an exercise in frustration..."  Reel Film Reviews  David Nusair

B-
"It's well-acted and has a great premise, but doesn't add up to beans."  Ozus' World Movie Reviews  Dennis Schwartz

"Here is an unpretentious movie for those who are willing to take a film for its surfaces...and want to forget themselves for a while. "  ReelTalk Movie Reviews  Donald J. Levit

B
"It's surprising that a film this unflinchingly violent can be so thought-provoking, and that the performances are as fine-tuned as they are."  EricDSnider.com  Eric D. Snider

B+
"Strangely compelling, even perversely poetic...its juxtaposition of thematic ugliness and visual beauty is a heady one."  One Guy's Opinion  Frank Swietek

3/4
"The strength of The Proposition is its relentless moral ambiguity."  ReelViews  James Berardinelli

3/5
"Delhomme's gorgeously gritty cinematography, and Cave's searing score give The Proposition an operatic bark and bluster. What's sorely missing is the bite."  I.E. Weekly  Jay Antani

8/10
"An Australian western without genre traditions in mind -- instead, their movie explores the complexities of moral relativity."  Window to the Movies  Jeffrey Chen

4/5
"Beautifully told and wonderfully performed."  FilmFocus  Joe Utichi

2/5
"For audiences accustomed to revisionist Westerns, only the relocation to Down Under will be a novelty since the film follows Sam Peckinpah's blood-soaked template."  Film-Forward.com  Kent Turner

B
"...quiet and operatic, stark and stunningly beautiful"  Reeling Reviews  Laura Clifford

"This Aussie horse opera doesn't so much present an exotic, bizarro version of the Wild West as the apotheosis of it."  Not Coming to a Theater Near You  Leo Goldsmith

3/4
"[Hillcoat] transforms the stark, surreal beauty of the outback landscape and grinding brutality of frontier life into a sweat-slicked, near-abstract ballet of blood and sand."  TV Guide's Movie Guide  Maitland McDonagh

"[I]nvoking horror movies is... perfectly fitting here... All hints of the fairy tale of 'the frontier' have been seared out of this tale..."  Flick Filosopher  MaryAnn Johanson

3.5/4
"A revisionist Western coated in flies, mud, and sweat that exudes an appreciation for, and fearful awe of, the near-mythic savagery that stands as enlightened society's vicious antipode."  Slant Magazine  Nick Schager

3/5
"A good film, but it should've been a great film."  Film Threat  Phil Hall

3/5
"A strong story that's rather flattened by pretentious, over-serious filmmaking"  Shadows on the Wall  Rich Cline

A-
"A darkly brilliant chapter to a genre whose creative spirit hangs by the thinnest of threads."  Flipside Movie Emporium  Rob Vaux

B
"Good and bad reside in all of us and it is shown well by the scribe [Nick Cave]"  Reeling Reviews  Robin Clifford

4.5/5
"Visually gorgeous, stunningly violent, and entirely gripping throughout."  eFilmCritic.com  Scott Weinberg

"Nick Cave's sinewy script looks austere and stripped down but echoes with a rich set of characters and conflicts..."  GreenCine  Sean Axmaker

3/4
"Intentionally strips the polish from Hollywood's overproduced outlaw epics. "  Charlotte Weekly  Sean O'Connell
OFCS Rating: 93% Fresh
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