INDECENT PROPOSAL is a great example of a great premise for a movie - Would you allow your wife to sleep with a complete stranger for one million dollars ? and it's not too difficult to understand why this movie was so talked about on its initial release . Well would you ?
The one problem that the movie suffers from is that Robert Redford was cast as John Gage , the middle aged billionaire who desires the company of Demi Moore's character Diane Murphy . Robert Redford who aged in his mid fifties looks about ten years younger and who still female fans to this day . One can't help thinking that Adrian Lyne would have been far better off exploiting the premise further by casting a much more physically repulsive actor as Gage . Some defenders may claim that Redford equals good box office and certainly this movie did superbly as far as world wide receipt's go , but it's a movie whose main selling point must be the simple central idea and would have perhaps ended up a much better film . It's interesting to note that when women in their late 30s to early 50s answer the question " Would you ? " they usually end up replying " Robert Redford ! I'd go to bed with him for free " .
INDECENT PROPOSAL isn't a great movie despite the great premise and I found Lyne's directing style a bit too 1980s with a couple of scenes that are a bit too pop video for my liking but despite not being the greatest actors in the history of cinema both Moore and Woody Harrelson do enough to make the audience feel for their characters who find themselves in a dilemma . Yeah maybe it's Hollywood trash but it's engaging Hollywood trash
