Indecent Proposal


Indecent Proposal is a 1993 American drama film based on the novel of the same name by Jack Engelhard, in which a married couple's relationship is put into turmoil by a stranger's offer of a million dollars for the wife to spend the night with him. It was directed by Adrian Lyne and stars Robert Redford, Demi Moore, and Woody Harrelson. The film was a box office success, despite earning mostly negative reviews from critics, grossing nearly $267 million worldwide on a $38 million budget.

Plot

High school sweethearts David and Diana Murphy are a married couple who travel to Las Vegas, hoping they can win enough money to finance David's fantasy real estate project.
Because of recession, they lost almost everything. With their last money they visit Las Vegas to try their luck. At first they were winning, but the next day their beginners luck ran out.
So, after gambling away all of their savings on roulette, they encounter billionaire John Gage. Gage is attracted to Diana and offers them one million dollars to allow him to spend a night with her. After a difficult night, David and Diana decide to accept the offer, and a contract is signed the next day. Gage flies Diana to a private yacht where he offers her a chance to void the deal and return to her husband if he loses a toss of his lucky coin. Gage wins the coin toss and Diana spends the night with him.
Although he had hoped to forget the whole incident, David grows increasingly insecure about his relationship with Diana, consumed with a fear that she remains involved with Gage; this insecurity is heightened by the fact that Diana discovers that Gage has bought their home/property while it was going into foreclosure. As tension between them builds, David and Diana separate.
Gage renews his advances on Diana. Although she initially resists, Diana eventually consents to spending time with him and a relationship develops. David, meanwhile, hits rock bottom and then slowly pulls his life back together. When Diana files for divorce, David signs the divorce papers and gives the million dollars away.
Diana tells Gage "I think we should talk". Gage, perhaps sensing what is coming, recognizes that, even if Diana stayed with him, their relationship would never achieve the intensity she had with David. Realizing that she longs to return to her husband, Gage makes up a story that she was only the latest in a long line of "million-dollar girls". Diana understands that Gage is doing this to make it easy for her to leave. Gage gives her his lucky coin, which is revealed to be double-headed. She returns to the pier where David proposed seven years earlier, and he is there. She sits on the opposite side from him, and they join hands.

Cast

Box office

The film was a box office success, earning $106,614,059 in the U.S. and $160,000,000 internationally for a worldwide total of over $266,000,000.

Critical reception

The film received generally negative reviews from critics at the time of its release. Gene Siskel gave the film thumbs down. Roger Ebert, however, gave it thumbs up on Siskel & Ebert, and also wrote a positive print review. Susan Faludi, a feminist writer, objected to the movie's positioning of the female character. Another feminist characterized it as a “woman in prison” film. Today, it maintains a 35% "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 46 reviews, with an average rating of 4.67/10. The consensus reads, "Lurid but acted with gusto, Indecent Proposal has difficulty keeping it up beyond its initial titillating premise."
Indecent Proposal was nominated for seven Razzie Awards in 1994 including Worst Actor, Worst Actress, Worst Director and Worst Original Song. It would ultimately win three trophies for Worst Picture, Worst Supporting Actor and Worst Screenplay.
The film is listed in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of the 100 Most Enjoyably Worst Movies Ever Made. At the 1993 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, Redford and Moore were nominated for Worst Actor and Actress respectively.
Audience response was less negative, with those polled by CinemaScore giving an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Differences between novel and film

Engelhard's novel contained cultural friction that the screenwriter left out of the movie: the main character, named Joshua, is Jewish, and his billionaire foil is an Arab. In a review of the novel, The New York Times summarized its themes as "the sanctity of marriage versus the love of money, the Jew versus significant non-Jews such as shiksas and sheiks, skill versus luck, materialism versus spirituality, Israel versus the Arab countries, the past versus the future, and the religious world versus the secular one."

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on April 6, 1993, by MCA Records. "In All the Right Places" by Lisa Stansfield was released as the album's lead single on May 24, 1993, and is the film's theme song. Sheena Easton makes a cameo appearance in the movie performing "The Nearness of You" at a pivotal part of the movie. The length of the soundtrack is 60 minutes and 37 seconds. "No Ordinary Love" by English band Sade was also prominently featured in the film, though it was not included on its soundtrack album.
In 2015 Intrada Records released an album of John Barry's score.
Chart Peak
position
Dutch Albums Chart71
US Billboard 200137

Cultural references

On July 30, 2018, Paramount Players announced that a remake of the film is currently in development, with the screenplay being written by Erin Cressida Wilson.