The plight of the extremely overworked, underpaid, and greatly underappreciated corporate underling (a la The Devil Wears Prada) is alive and well in the romantic comedy The Proposal. It is hardworking assistant vs. terrible boss in typical hilarious fashion until, in an ironic twist of fate, the terrible boss finds herself in need of something from the hardworking assistant and learns that using people to get what you want is not always that easy and can sometimes carry a pretty hefty price tag.

Margaret Tate, book publisher extraordinaire, is used to getting what she wants, and she wants it all the time. She does not take no for an answer from anyone, including editors, best-selling authors, and especially from her assistant Andrew. Andrew is trained to be where Margaret wants him when she wants him there. He does everything she asks without asking questions or complaining (at least to her face). So far, using Andrew has been relatively easy for Margaret. She knows he is dedicated to his job because he wants to work his way up the corporate ladder... and being the best assistant for Margaret, no matter how impossible it may be, is the best way for him to get a promotion and get that much closer to landing the job he has always dreamed of having. As long as she has the ability to get him ahead in his career she knows he will do virtually anything she requires from him, and that has worked out pretty well for Margaret so far.

When Margaret learns that, due to an illicit trip to a book fair during the time her American visa was under review, she is being deported back to her home country of Canada, she at first panics. Her job and career and everything she's worked for are suddenly threatened. She quickly turns to Andrew, though, the one whom she has always used to get what she needs... and sees an immediate solution. She will marry Andrew and therefore save her status as a U.S. citizen. She knows he will agree because otherwise he will lose his job along with her and everything he has worked for will be for nothing as well. Although this is the most horrible idea he has ever heard of, Andrew agrees. Margaret is successful in her blackmail and is once again successful in getting Andrew to do whatever she wants him to do.

Unfortunately for Margaret, marrying someone to simply save yourself from deportation is not quite as easy as it sounds. She and Andrew soon face the reality that they will have to live and act like a couple that is about to be engaged, which includes breaking the news to Andrew's family. Margaret conveniently has no family to break the news to, so as a part of Margaret's scheme they head up to visit Andrew's family in Alaska and announce their "engagement" at his Grandma's ninetieth birthday party. The entire trip is, at first, aside from being sidesplitting hilarious, all just part of a business deal for Margaret. It is obvious she couldn't be more uncomfortable or out of place in the vast Alaskan wilderness, but it is necessary to achieve what she needs so she puts up with it, albeit begrudgingly. Andrew on the other hand is very comfortable in this style of living, a fact Margaret finds surprising. As Margaret sees clues about who his family is and their status in the community it becomes clear that he is not the person she at first thought him to be.

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