R E V I E W S

Proof of Life (2000)

Starring: Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe, David Morse, David Caruso, Pamela Reed
Director: Taylor Hackford
Rating: R

Studio: Warner Bros.

Review Posted: 4.21.01

Rating: 3/4

By Michael Brendan McLarney.

"Physical Evidence"

"Proof of Life" is a movie that didn't quite go into the direction I had anticipated, but to my surprise, I found myself appreciating the film more for it. The story thrusts us into the big profit business of international kidnapping. To the loved ones of those taken hostage, it is emotional. To those holding the victim, it is strictly a business - as we are told by one of the movie's central characters.

Peter Bowman (David Morse) is an American engineer currently residing in the fictitious country of Tecala as he oversees the construction of a dam. Holding a firm belief in the project, the foreign stay hasn't taken as big a toll on him as it has his wife, Alice (Meg Ryan) - growing increasingly tired of spending her days in solitude, waiting for her husband to come home from work. One morning, Peter is suddenly taken hostage by anti-government forces during a raid on a capital city. When the captors learn his identity, they demand a ransom of three million dollars for his safe return. The situation grows more grim by the minute as Peter's Houston-based company - on the verge of bankruptcy - has made the inauspicious decision to cancel his kidnapping insurance policy and therefore, are unable to provide the necessary funds to have him freed.

Alice's dilemma soon catches the attention of Terry Thorne (Russell Crowe), an Australian-born SAS agent who has handled a plethora of high-profile kidnapping cases. Despite the cancellation of Peter's insurance, Thorne agrees to assist Alice in the negotiation process, helping to facilitate the return of her spouse.

As the haggling becomes mired in a state of prolixity, Peter is moved from a guerilla camp high in the Andes to another camp in the Amazon jungle, all the while enervating into his own state of physical and mental dilapidation.

The situation becomes even more complicated when Alice - whose own emotional demons have been magnified due to her growing trepidation - slowly begins to realize her subtle-yet-cognizant attraction toward the man assisting her.

Much has been made in magazine articles and tabloid television shows regarding the off-camera romance between Crowe and Ryan during the movie's production, although the film surprisingly stands potent on its own terms - holding my interest to the point where I never became distracted by all I had heard or read prior to its screening. Despite a relatively lengthy runnng time, director Taylor ("An Officer and a Gentleman", "The Devil's Advocate") Hackford keeps the story moving at a solid pace, and the screenplay (based upon the Vanity Fair article "Adventures in the Ransom Trade" by William Prochnau) provides more than enough details surrounding the business of K & R (kidnapping and ransom) to quench my inherent thirst for the acquisition of knowledge.

Reportedly, a rather sultry love scene between Ryan and Crowe was edited out because of fears that it may cause attention to shift to the now notorious tabloid reports. I wonder though, if it was even necessary to the storyline in the first place. While there are certainly hints of an attraction between the fearful Alice and the protective Terry Thorne, it never reaches a level of romantic consummation. Thinking back on the movie, I can't recall a point where a scene of the sort would justifiably fit in. The attraction they feel toward one another isn't so much a product of physical eroticism as a necessity of emotion.

Both Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe do a nice job of maintaining the cognizance of what their respective characters must follow through with and accomplish in spite of the undeniable feelings lingering between them. As the unfortunate husband, the always terrific character actor David Morse brings an added measure of authenticity to the terrifying situation that has taken him by surprise, maintaining that veracity through scenes where he starts taking matters into his own hands - the need to return to his wife in complete control of his mind.

"Proof of Life" succeeds in displaying a veritable depiction of a highly volatile situation being solved by those intelligent and courageous enough to emerge victorious, yet vulnerable enough to come out of it forever changed.

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