Indecent Proposal

This article is about the film. For the album by Timbaland & Magoo, see Indecent Proposal (album).

Indecent Proposal
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Adrian Lyne
Produced by	Sherry Lansing
Screenplay by	Amy Holden Jones
Based on	Indecent Proposal by Jack Engelhard
Starring	Woody Harrelson Demi Moore Robert Redford
Music by	John Barry
Cinematography	Howard Atherton
Editing by	Joe Hutshing
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	April 7, 1993 (1993-04-07)
Running time	118 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$38 million
Box office	$266,614,059

Indecent Proposal is a 1993 drama film based on the novel of the same name by Jack Engelhard. It was directed by Adrian Lyne and stars Robert Redford, Demi Moore, and Woody Harrelson.

Plot

Childhood sweethearts David (Woody Harrelson) and Diana Murphy (Demi Moore) are a married couple who travel to Las Vegas, hoping they can win enough money to finance David's fantasy real estate project. They place their money on red in roulette and lose. After gambling away all of their savings, they encounter billionaire John Gage (Robert Redford). Gage is attracted to Diana and offers David one million dollars 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 calls it correctly and she 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 Diana discovers that Gage has bought their home/property while it was going into foreclosure. Because of this tension on their relationship, David and Diana separate. Gage actively persists and renews his advances on Diana. Although she initially resists, Diana eventually consents to spending time with him and a relationship develops. David, meanwhile, realizes he cannot go on without the love of his life. When Diana files for divorce, David makes one final attempt to win her back by signing the divorce papers and giving the million dollars away. David bares his soul as to why he allowed the night to happen. It is clearly a turning point for both of them.

Gage sees how Diana looks at David and recognizes that, even if she stayed with him, their relationship would never achieve the intensity she had with David. Later in the car with Gage, it is clear Diana has made up her mind to return to David when she says to Gage that they need to talk. Gage, realizing that she longs to return to David, makes up a story that she was only the latest in a long line of "million dollar girls". Diana realizes that Gage is doing this to make it easy for her to leave, thanks Gage and returns to David. Before she leaves, he gives her his lucky coin, which is revealed to be double sided. She returns to the pier where David proposed, only to find him there waiting. They confess their love for one another and join hands.

Cast

• Woody Harrelson as David Murphy
• Demi Moore as Diana Murphy
• Robert Redford as John Gage
• Seymour Cassel as Mr. Shackleford
• Oliver Platt as Jeremy
• Billy Bob Thornton as Day Tripper
• Rip Taylor as Mr. Langford
• Billy Connolly as Auction M.C.
• Sheena Easton as Herself
• Herbie Hancock as Himself

Reception

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 $265,000,000.

Critical response

Despite the film's commercial success, it received mostly negative reviews from critics. Gene Siskel gave the film thumbs down. Roger Ebert, however, gave it thumbs up on Siskel & Ebert. Ebert also wrote a positive print review. The film was nominated for seven Razzie Awards including Worst Actor (Robert Redford), Worst Actress (Demi Moore), Worst Director (Adrian Lyne) and Worst Original Song ("You Love Me in All the Right Places"), and won three for Worst Screenplay, Worst Picture and Worst Supporting Actor (Woody Harrelson). The film caused controversy amongst feminists. It maintains a 37% "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Differences between the novel and the film

Engelhard's novel contained cultural friction that the screenwriter left out of the movie: the main character, named Joshua, is a Jew 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.”

Cultural references

The 2002 episode "Half-Decent Proposal" of The Simpsons parodies and follows the story of the film loosely.

External links

• Indecent Proposal at the Internet Movie Database
• Indecent Proposal at Box Office Mojo
• Indecent Proposal at Rotten Tomatoes
• Indecent Proposal at Metacritic

Awards
Preceded by Shining Through	Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture 14th Golden Raspberry Awards	Succeeded by Color of Night