One of the most achingly slow and boring films i've sen in a long time, beautifully shot, but cold have been told in 30 mins!

An extremely good film with a harsh, unrelenting take on violence and the way it consumed good and bad people alike. It makes a very powerful impression.

Wow, what a waste of time. Half the movie (every 10 minutes to be exact) is the tedious exercise of watching Emily Watson's character mope her way through every scene; the look on her face a mix between whether she wants to cry or needs to use the bathroom. Way to drag a seemingly decent to a grinding trot. In Unforgiven, did Little Bill need some bland-wife character study around spending half the movie comatose and depressed in order to tell us absolutely nothing about Little Bill? No, but that's what's going on here with Ray Winstone. Enough Pulp Fiction-esque, "soul searching" monolouges from the characters to fulfill every college screenwriting nerd's wet dream. Another overrated artsy movie; watch The Long Riders instead if you want tormented outlaw brothers. Ugh. Where's the line to get my 2 hours back?… Expand

Wildly overpraised movie, especially in the English and Australian press. Lots of violence, lots of ham-fisted allegory, lots of banal "insight" into Australian race relations, and copious amounts of fringe of pain overacting. For all these flaws, the film nevertheless brings the extraordinary landscape of western Queensland to life, and captures the severity and harshness of the Australian outback and its chequered history. Deserves some credit for reminding us all that racism, madness and bloodthirsty excess are not the exclusive preserve of the American West. Amongst the violent protagonists, Guy Pearce and David Gulpilil take out the acting honours, simply by being halfway restrained while everyone else in sight whips themselves into a frenzy of biblical wrath, moral ambiguity and eye-rolling depravity. John Hurt has a bit of fun as a drunken bounty hunter, Ray Winstone and Emily Watson attempt to counterpoint the malevolence with some "civilised and repressed" posturing, but to no great effect really. David Wenham is effectively slimy as a local bureaucrat of sorts, who orders the fatal whipping of the (obligatory) halfwit. The whole thing ends rather anticlimatically after an excruciatingly brutal Xmas dinner, with dysfunctional brothers Guy and Danny wandering off across the sunblasted landscape to die together, while simultaneously speculating on the unhappy nature of families. Almost as cringe inducing as the "Knocking on Heaven's Door" sequence in "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid", in fact - a movie that this movie is far too close to. So, this is principally a movie for people that think Sam Peckinpah was some kind of visionary, and who think biblical symbolism is really , like "powerful" - and not simply an outdated artistic device. Much more boring than you might think from the reviews.… Expand

A worthy addition to the Western canon..The script is excellent in parts as is some of the acting-and yet that is only half the story for the movie is let down by some characters who are terrible stereotypes and who take much away from the drama and realism of this film.Cave's soundtrack is memorable and i for one love the references to Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. Not as sensational or as bad as some would have you believe but still worth a look… Expand

I also believe this film is wildly overpraised. While I enjoyed it, I will not remember it for more than a good scenic film that is somewhat violent and superbly acted. To me, the characters were underdeveloped, which made their demise less impactful.

A flawed but rivetting film, harsh, frightening, dirty where the human soul is exposed for what it is - good and bad with all shades between. The script and cast (especially Danny Huston) are outstanding.

An excellent film, especially when viewed in a movie house. Visually stunning and a good story too.

Fantastic film. Very harsh and brutal yet flowed with an almost fairy-tale quality where good and bad blended into grey to the haunting tunes of Nick Cave. I found there was a supernatural feel to this film on top of the harsh wild world that was colonial Australia. Magnificent.

The first half of the flim was pretty slow, but once the action got going, it became a powerful and entertaining film. Surprised that Ray Winstone hasn't had more acting opportunities in America...this is another superb job by him. Completely unimpressed with John Hurt's "cameo" appearance. I don't think it added anything to the film.

Better, more relevant and more real than all the trigger happy, gunslinging, sheriff hero excuses for a western film out there. If you like pistol duels at high noon try watching this to see what a real western with real characters should be like.

Down and Dirty, visually stunning and definatley no holds barred western. Grips you at times but also tends to be slow moving. My only gripe is I had a hard time finding a sould in any of the characters to justify much of what was going on. But definatley stands head and shoulders over many of the westerns over the last decade. This is how they should be done.

Dark and savage like many of Nick Cave's songs. Great addition to the genre.

brilliant. Engaging, beautiful and arresting all in the same breath.

Raw, dark, stark, suberb.

amazing: great acting, makes Unforgiven look 2D.

Its most saving grace is the fact that it was a western. Being 21 its probably the only good western I've seen in theaters in my lifetime. Its biggest downfall was that it really could have been so much better.

It took me a several times watching this movie, but I finally understand it. The Proposition is an amazing work of art that brings to attention the harshness of the land and the way it affected the lives of so many. In a land without law or justice, grand sweeping cinematic visuals paint a landscape captured perfectly. What makes The Proposition truly unique is the way motives clash and the plot weaves such a fascinating turn of events. You almost wish the characters could be more decisive in their actions but by contemplating things, we are allowed to fully understand the predicament each character faces. The Proposition almost plays out like a modern day Shakespearean tragedy. While I can see how this movie could be overwhelming at first, it deserves to be treated more like a work of art being viewed multiple times to fully grasp what is presented here.… Expand

"The Proposition" has one helluva flogging scene. As a meditation on violence, this one particular moment bests anything in Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven". Up to this point, there was some concern on my part that the constant narrative shifts away from Charlie's journey might be hurting the film. And it does so in one important aspect; reaching his brothers' hideout doesn�39;t seem much of an arduous undertaking, although the distance must be considerable. All that time compression hurts that epic feel that a film like Nicholas Roeg's "Walkabout" has. As Charlie (Guy Pearce) searches for his brothers to carry out some vigilante justice; back home, Martha (Emily Watson) discovers that she doesn't have the stomach for an "eye-for-an-eye, and tooth-for-a-tooth" way of doing things. The story of the sheriff and his wife is needed to show that even an outback needs the law. "The Proposition" is a beautiful, and brutal film.… Expand

This would be a worthwhile film if only for the opportunity it affords Ray Winstone to demonstrate his phenomenal talents; but it also captures a place and a reality about the savage history we all share in the modern world. The movie is consistently surprising because, like "Unforgiven," it doesn't play to easy stereo types.

Great film- I am not a fan of Westerns but this won me over. From the direction, acting, screenplay to the music- it was a first rate effort that hit its mark. Yes, it is violent, but many of its worse events were not shown in detail, although many were and they furthered the story and the mood of the film.

Fantastic Australian-western. I haven't seen a western this good since Unforgiven (not including the TV show Deadwood--which is excellent). Guy Pearce and Ray Winstone really hold down this film along with the sort of fairy-tale dialogue amid this wretched violence and hard reality. The two brothers (Richard Wilson and Danny Houston) also give really memorable performances. I really wished I'd seen this in the movie theater as the landscapes are also just huge in the film. Bravo to Nick Cave and the director Hillcoat. What a great find this movie was.… Expand