Proof of Life
Description
Their lives are on the line. Their hearts are out on a limb. The wife of a kidnap victim and the hostage negotiator working with her navigate a brutal world of terrorism that values money over life – and find their tasks complicated by the growing awareness that they’re attracted to each other.Amazon.com
When someone in Proof of Life says “Don’t leave me hanging,” you can bet they’re going to be left hanging. That’s what happens when Alice Bowman (Meg Ryan) learns that her husband Peter (David Morse) has been kidnapped by rebels in the (fictional) Latin American country of Tecala. He’s building a corporate-funded dam there, and that makes him a fine target for kidnap by the rebels, who barter with the lives o… More >>
Although I admit to being sick of Meg Ryan and her “acting,” I thought I might be swayed by Russell Crowe’s performance. Nope. I didn’t think either actor acted very well and the story line was terrible. I felt very unsatisfied leaving the movie theater.
Rating: 2 / 5
Taylor Hackford’s film on the tension between a kidnap-rescue mercenary (Russel Crowe) and the distrought wife (Meg Ryan) of a business man abducted in a fictional Latin American country. A rather boring film devoid of action or even drama as the characters don’t seem to be too enthusiastic about either eachother or the cuckold husband on ransom.
The film focuses on Alice Bowman (Meg Ryan) whose husband Peter (David Morse) is kidnapped by guerillas in Latin America. A mercenary named Terry Thorne (Russell Crowe) is called in to do an extraction but he falls in love with Alice. The film goes back and forth between the rebel camp and the ransom payers to add tension and suspense to the film. Crowe finally heeds to his sense of duty and goes off to rescue his rival lover and voila! The film is over!
The simple result of these machinations in this film is that it’s boring. Whatever action Crowe and Ryan enjoyed off-screen, the two simply have no chemistry on-screen which makes their characters rather hard to believe. Furthermore, this is a simple kidnap-ransom film without any mystery and Tony Gilroy’s screenplay is just too long for this kind of story making it boring: there’s no action worth seeing in this film and this kind of story, unless it has a very intricate plot, is suitable only for an action film! Also, the fact that Alice is contemplating an affair while her husband is ready to have his throat slit doesn’t make her a very appealing character. Finally, what’s the deal with putting this in a country that doesn’t exist? It would have made perfect sense to place this film in Columbia or Peru which have the highest kidnapping rates in the world. Given that fact, I don’t think those nations could claim to be insulted if they were the context of the film.
The title to this film should be more properly addressed to the director as to the value of this film. This is a very boring film with shallow dialogue and an overextended screenplay that really has no purpose or direction. This movie isn’t worth renting or buying.
Rating: 1 / 5
Proof of Life was a bit of a disappointment considering the make-up of the cast: Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan among others.
In short, the acting is pretty good (but nothing great), the action/special effects are just average, while the plot is rather poor.
Moreover, the characters are weak, bland and just plain uninteresting.
In a nutshell, it’s probably not a movie you would want to add to your collection, but it will provide for an evening’s entertainment, and that’s about it.
No masterpiece here… 3½ Stars
Rating: 3 / 5
But if you must know. It’s the usual pathetic acting job by Meg Ryan that really brings down this movie. Little wonder most of her movies in the past 8 years have sucked. I can’t believe she’s cast in serious roles. Never works. Don’t waste your time with this one, unless you’re a Russell Crowe fan – then it’s all right.
Rating: 1 / 5
Meg Ryan and David Morse play a married couple who live and work abroad. Morse gets a job in South America and is promptly abducted and held for ransom. Russell Crowe plays a professional intermediary/negotiator who will negotiate for the release of Ryan’s husband. Suspenseful, quality film, widely overlooked, panned by critics upon its release, and overshadowed by the very public Ryan-Crowe romance, which is unfortunate because this is an excellent, thrilling and taut story.
Rating: 3 / 5