Indecent Proposal (1993)
54%RT Audience Score: 47%
Awards & Nominations: 7 wins & 8 nominations
Lurid but acted with gusto, Indecent Proposal has difficulty keeping it up beyond its initial titillating premise
Indecent Proposal is like a bad perfume commercial that just won’t end. The movie tries to sell us on the idea of selling love, but it falls flat on its face. The performances are cringe-worthy, and the plot is so unrealistic that it’s hard to take seriously. It’s the kind of movie that you watch when you’re bored and have nothing else to do, but you’ll probably forget about it as soon as it’s over. If you’re looking for a good romantic drama, this is not it.
Production Company(ies)
Sidus C J Entertainment, Muhan Investment
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens – 1151 Oxford Rd, San Marino, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for sexuality and language
Year of Release
1993
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 57m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Apr 7, 1993 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2002
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Indecent Proposal, drama, 1993, R, Woody Harrelson, Demi Moore, Robert Redford, directed by Adrian Lyne, written by Jack Engelhard and Amy Holden Jones, produced by Sherry Lansing, box office gross $104.9M, reviewed by David Ansen, Owen Gleiberman, James Berardinelli, Roger Ebert, Steve Davis, Brandon Collins, PJ Nabarro, Patrick Nabarro, Quentin Curtis, Vanessa Letts, Malcolm Johnson, starring Robert Redford as John Gage, Demi Moore as Diana Murphy, Woody Harrelson as David Murphy, Oliver Platt as Jeremy, Seymour Cassel as Mr Shackleford, Billy Bob Thornton as Day Tripper
Worldwide gross: $266,614,059
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $553,825,436
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 258
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 60,395,358
US/Canada gross: $106,614,059
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $221,464,607
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 305
US/Canada opening weekend: $18,387,632
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $38,195,804
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 335
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $38,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $78,935,697
Production budget ranking: 534
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $42,506,873
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $432,382,866
ROI to date (est.): 356%
ROI ranking: 390
Demi Moore – Diana Murphy
Woody Harrelson – David Murphy
Oliver Platt – Jeremy
Seymour Cassel – Mr. Shackleford
Billy Bob Thornton – Day Tripper
Director(s)
Adrian Lyne
Writer(s)
Jack Engelhard, Amy Holden Jones
Producer(s)
Sherry Lansing
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
7 wins & 8 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (47) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (16) | Rotten (31)
Not once in the whole silly exercise does he approximate a genuine emotion. Unable to dramatize marital love, he sells it, as if he were pitching perfume. Having nothing credible to play, Moore and Harrelson strike poses of love and anguish.
June 7, 2018
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
September 7, 2011 | Rating: C
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 2/4
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
TOP CRITIC
It is artificial and manipulative, and in the real world this sort of thing would never happen in this way, but then that’s why we line up at the ticket window: We want to leave the real world, for a couple of hours, anyway.
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 3/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 2/5
Steve Davis
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
It is an intriguing film, but I don’t like the tension that it brought…
March 5, 2020 | Rating: 2/5
Justin Brown
Medium Popcorn
Mildly entertaining, a throwback to prime Demi Moore…
March 5, 2020 | Rating: 3/5
Brandon Collins
Medium Popcorn
Indecent Proposal’s seeming certainty over the profundity of its conceit winds up becoming its fatal flaw. Quite simply, it doesn’t present that much of a dilemma.
August 21, 2019 | Rating: 2/5
PJ Nabarro
Patrick Nabarro
Reminiscent of a series of Nescafé adverts.
July 23, 2018
Vanessa Letts
The Spectator
In some ways, this portentous little morality tale about the dangerous powers of great wealth might be taken in as an amusing evening of unintentionally campy stuff, except that it unfolds glacially at times. The performances are universally embarrassing.
June 7, 2018
Malcolm Johnson
Hartford Courant
I don’t know if the film insults women, but it certainly insults its audience.
December 8, 2017
Quentin Curtis
Independent on Sunday
’90s romantic drama has some explicit sex, profanity.
June 8, 2016 | Rating: 3/5
Andrea Beach
Common Sense Media…
Plot
A happily-married young couple, David Murphy and Diana Murphy have started their respective careers, she as a real estate broker, he as an architect. She finds the perfect spot to build his dream house, and they get loans to finance it. When the recession hits, they stand to lose everything they own, so they go to Las Vegas to have one shot with their last $5000 at winning the money they need. After losing at the tables, they are approached by a suave billionaire and high-stakes gambler, John Gage, who offers them a million dollars for a night with Diana. Indignant but already seduced, Diana and David reluctantly agree. They say money can’t buy love. Though the couple agrees that this is a way out of their financial dilemma, it threatens to destroy their relationship. Can the husband and wife survive John’s ultimate test?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No goofy or funny or odd comments were found in the Fresh Kernels database for Indecent Proposal.
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