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David Mumpower: While I am quite surprised by the level of opening weekend success this has achieved, I think that there is a key issue to consider here that has yet to be discussed. We live in a cougar culture right now. After decades of media cycles stating how resentful women are of older men dating twinkies, Stifler's Mom had a profound effect on society. Okay, that's probably not the real causality, but I always remember something Rita Rudner used to say. "Women used to date older men, because they were more mature. Me, I say men never mature. Date a young, hot one."

The people who made Sandra Bullock's 1990s romantic comedies successful, even the lousy ones like Forces of Nature, are now at this age. They don't want to live vicariously through Sandra Bullock dating an even older guy. They want to fantasize about seducing someone with abs like Ryan Reynolds. His casting here was a master stroke, making him the perfect romantic foil for a role people are tired of seeing Hugh Grant play.

Let's talk about Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place.

Kim Hollis: After seeing the performances of The Proposal and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, is Ryan Reynolds finally a star?

Brandon Scott: He's close. We'll really know once he completely anchors something on his own to big numbers. Think the way Kevin James came out of nowhere with Paul Blart. He did it on his own, after being in a hit with his own show of course, but as far as movies go, he was the second name in the credits in Hitch and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. I think if Deadpool does big numbers then we will say he has finally arrived. I am not ready to say it yet. His track record is too mixed.

Josh Spiegel: Yeah, it's too early to tell on Reynolds' star power. I doubt that many people saw Wolverine for Ryan Reynolds (and its domestic gross hardly qualifies it as a major success). The Proposal is certainly something that could lead to stardom, but I'm not sure that a Deadpool movie would do it. Not all comic book films succeed, and as proved by Wolverine, a movie star can't always make a major success out of a movie by just being in it. At the very least, Reynolds' summer has guaranteed him a few more years of solid work.





Reagen Sulewski: Reynolds is a guy who's kind of been dancing around the edge of stardom for several years. He's obviously got charisma to spare. He's just never quite been able to find that right role. I think this will basically be his coming out party for the masses, and move him from being a guy with a small, but dedicated fanbase into one with leading man potential. One problem I do foresee for him is that he's going to have very little credibility as a dramatic actor, so he should stick to comedies, or at least films that have a comedic bent to them, for now.

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