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Proof of Life
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Proof of Life (2000)

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User Rating: 6.1/10 (17,429 votes)
Photos (see all 24 | slideshow) Videos
IMDb Coverage of Comic-Con 2008

Overview

Director:
Taylor Hackford
Writers (WGA):
Tony Gilroy (written by)
William Prochnau (article) (inspiration)
more
Release Date:
8 December 2000 (USA) more view trailer
Genre:
Action | Drama | Thriller more
Plot:
Alice hires a professional negotiator to obtain the release of her engineer husband, who has been kidnapped by anti-government guerrillas in South America. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
5 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(35 articles)
Ryan & Perry: More Than Just Friends? (From WENN. 12 July 2007)
Ryan and Perry in New Romance? (From WENN. 2 February 2007)
User Comments:
At it's heart it is a dramatic and enjoyable film - the padding is the problem more

Cast

 (Cast overview, first billed only)

Meg Ryan ... Alice Bowman

Russell Crowe ... Terry Thorne

David Morse ... Peter Bowman
Pamela Reed ... Janis Goodman

David Caruso ... Dino

Anthony Heald ... Ted Fellner

Stanley Anderson ... Jerry
Gottfried John ... Eric Kessler
Alun Armstrong ... Wyatt
Michael Kitchen ... Ian Havery
Margo Martindale ... Ivy
Mario Ernesto Sánchez ... Arturo Fernandez (as Mario Ernesto Sanchez)
Pietro Sibille ... Juaco
Vicky Hernández ... Maria (as Vicky Hernandez)
Norma Martínez ... Norma (as Norma Martinez)
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for violence, language and some drug material.
Runtime:
135 min
Country:
USA
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS
Filming Locations:
Ecuador more
MOVIEmeter: ?
V 28% since last week why?

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
One of the names of the hostages on the white board in the London Office is "Idziak" - the director of photography for this film is Slawomir Idziak. more
Goofs:
Continuity: The Polaroid which terry examines with a magnifying glass shows Peter smiling slightly. The picture Alice & Janice look at has his mouth closed in a grimace (the plot makes an issue of why he isn't smiling in the photo). more
Quotes:
Ted Fellner: We're out of miracles. more
Movie Connections:
References Soldier of Fortune (1955) more
Soundtrack:
Muņeca Linda more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
26 out of 30 people found the following comment useful:-
At it's heart it is a dramatic and enjoyable film - the padding is the problem, 13 April 2004
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

Peter and Alice Bowman are working on a dam in South America in the employment of a large oil company. When Peter is kidnapped the company bring in expert negotiator Terry Thorne. However when the oil company runs out of money due to no insurance, they take Terry off the case and he leaves for another job. However a pang of conscience brings him back to help Alice and he replaces the corrupt locals. As he tries to help get her husband back he also falls for Alice.

As a fan of David Caruso, I was annoyed that I missed this film at the cinema (I blinked and I missed it!) and by the time the video came out it had slipped my mind. Shown of tv last night was the perfect time for me to see it and, despite negative reviews, I actually quite enjoyed it. I think the problem is that the critics struggled to get past the handful of problems (more later) to find that the film was an effective, if talky, drama with a thriller edge. The premise is good and it allows tense scenes where Terry tough talks as well as scenes with Peter with his captors. It's not perfect in this regard as it is a bit talky but for me it was engaging - I got the impression from other comments that people had expected raging gun battles all the way through the film.

However what does damage the film is Alice Bowman. I can see the potential behind Terry and Alice's romance - it could have been another layer of drama. In reality it doesn't work a bit and only serves to take away from the main thrust of the film - their relationship never convinces and nothing of interest is actually done with it. Likewise the character of Alice doesn't really work either - I never believed she was emotionally going through the wringers to the degree the script suggested she would be. A big part of the blame for this must lie with Meg Ryan herself. She is miscast in the first place, but on top of that she is too pristine throughout the film - hair and makeup perfect no matter what and a stupid little hippie-girl personality that stops her being a real person. It is a bad performance and the film would have benefited from a shorter running time which lost the romance subplot and scaled back on Ryan's time.

However she is carried by a real star turn from Crowe. It may not be that clever a role but he does `tough' really well and he helps improve the tension of several scenes. Morse is a good actor and he does well here. The only downside of his performance is that he seemed fit and well outside of his makeup; I was looking for him to look thinner and mentally battered as the film progressed but he didn't - it's not his fault, I guess the film had no time to do this. Caruso gives the same tough performance he does in every thing he ever does so if you like that then you'll like him here - I do!

Overall this is an enjoyable film if you can get past it's major problems surrounding Alice and Terry's relationship. Script-wise this aspect was weak on paper, but a comparatively rubbish turn from the miscast Meg Ryan just makes it all the weaker. Thank god that the basic premise is tense and the male leads' tough talking is good fun.

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