The Proposition

Boston, 1935: a lawyer (Hurt) discovers he's infertile and proposes to pay a law student (Harris) to impregnate his novelist wife (Stowe). Still without child and on the brink of a major family scandal, the wife seeks solace with the student's uncle, Fr McKinnon (Branagh, miscast), their friendship swiftly developing into a liaison. This flimsy exploration of sexual surrogacy and East Coast materialism between the wars is not improved by director Glatter (remember the syrupy Now and Then?) coating each scene with tacky glamour.