I wanted to but couldn't!

A different way of telling a story

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Russell Crowe would of course come to be better known elsewhere (filmicly) in this year, but what of his other release in 2000? Proof of Life is a blender, a picture that is in part thriller, part romance, part drama and part observation on a very real life problem - that of kidnapping for ransom. So many genres to tackle means that invariably Taylor Hackford's film feels over stuffed, pushing the running time to two hours and fifteen minutes, it is this that hurts it. A shame because if trimmed of the pointless filler and drawn out sequences then there is a very efficient (ok, maybe routine is a better word here) and well acted piece on show. The drama and tension (sexual and perilous threat) is all building towards the action packed finale, which, while well mounted, doesn't seem an adequate pay off for the number of extended chatty scenes we have had to tolerate to get there. Nice tip of the hat to a classic at the end, though. 6/10

The opening scenes introduce us to protagonist Terry Thorne as he briefs his employers in London about a mission to free a hostage in Chechnya; Terry is an ex-SAS soldier who now works as a hostage negotiator. We are then introduced to the other protagonists; Alice and Peter Bowman; they are in South America where Peter is involved in the construction of a dam; although it looks like that may come to an end when the company he works for is taken over. The loss of the project is the least of their worries though; as Peter drives to work he is grabbed by rebels who take him to the mountains and demand a large ransom. Terry is called in to be the negotiator but not long after he arrives he learns that the Bowman's kidnap insurance isn't up to date and his new employer doesn't want to get involved. Luckily for Alice Terry decides to do the job anyway and he is soon negotiating with a representative of the rebels. Peter meanwhile is moved on to a camp in the jungle where he befriends a German hostage. Day, weeks and months pass as the negotiations slowly proceed; then the two hostages escape… the German gets away but Peter is seriously injured and recaptured. To make matters worse the negotiations stall; Terry, his friend Dino and a small group will have to go into the jungle and extract him.This was an interesting story which avoided several clichés; it didn't take place over the space of a few short days and violence was the last rather than the first resort of those seeking to free the hostage. The relatively slow pace of the negotiations gave us a chance to get to know the characters and gradually raise the tension. The scenes of Peter's captivity were believable and at times gruelling. When the action comes it is short and sharp without excessive explosions and an unbelievable number of bad guys to kill. The cast did a solid job although I wasn't sure about the supposed romantic subplot between Alice, played by Meg Ryan, and Terry, Russell Crowe… it seemed both superfluous and low key… almost as though somebody told the director to add a subplot he wasn't interested in. The remote Ecuadorian scenery looks fantastic without it feeling as though the tourist board had selected the locations; they also add to the feeling of isolation for Peter. Overall this is a pretty good film; I was surprised I hadn't come across it till I found the DVD in a charity shop bargain bin! It is certainly worth a watch.

This is one of those movies that simply...does not work. The three principle actors lack any intensity in what is a life and death situation. Russell Crowe tries hard to be cooler than cool...he finally looks like a live zombie. (far, far away). Meg Ryan looks very happy ...even after her husband has been kidnapped for many months. I do know this is the movie where Meg and the Crowe started there love affair...perhaps its true what they say about the Crowe. (anyway Meg sure looks happy). David Morse as Megs husband is never convincing in his role. The jumpy direction certainly does not help....and the continual instant changing of locations is not good. Its a movie with high ambitions ..it is also a bomb

The Proof of life is a fascinating movie, directed by Taylor Hackford in 2000. It's an action film set in a city of South America. The cast is Meg Ryan, Russel Crowe and David Morse. The story is about engineer Peter Bowman, married with Alice. They haven't lived well, since the death of their daughter. They live in a city in South America e he works for Oil Company, when he is kidnapped by guerrilla fighters. The company contracts the man, Terry Thorne, who will negotiate the life of her husband. During the film, they fall in love, but he does everything to save the engineer. Meg Ryan is weak in this movie, perhaps because she got accustomed doing comedy films. She keeps hippie appearance in all movies that I've seen. The time to change the aspect has already came.Russel Crowe incarnated a negotiator and in scenes at jungle, he and the character of the David Caruso were very well. David Morse transformed his appearance in accordance with the duration of his kidnapping and his suffering. He does these changes very well. The movie is tense and it makes us think about the life's value. How much does life cost? It will change the way that you see the value of life I recommend it.