Proof Of Life is required when negotiating to get a hostage returned. Without a Proof Of Life the family won't pay a dime, and even with a Proof of Life, the price has to be carefully negotiated. You can't pay too much, or too quickly, or the kidnappers will only ask for more. It's a delicate and difficult business, one that is almost impossible for the family to handle, given the emotional stress of the situation. So you need a professional K&R man--kidnap and ransom.

At the beginning of Proof Of Life we meet one such K&R professional. His name is Terry Thorne, and he's very good at what he does. When we first meet him, he's reading his report of a successful rescue operation. Interspersed into the reading are clips of Terry in action, plucking his hostage from the line of gunfire and leaping onto a helicopter to be flown to safety. You'd be impressed, except that too many action films start that way, establishing the character's superhuman qualities.

Next we cut to the personal Terry Thorne, watching his kid at footie training, and then explaining that he can't be there for the game, since he has a mission in another corner of the world. So the overall picture we get is of a tough, rugged fellow--a rolling stone unable to gather moss, who likes his life, but feels its strain nonetheless.

So there's the rescuer, now all we need is the rescuee. He's Peter Bowman, building a dam in a fictional South American country. Right before he is kidnapped, Peter fights with his wife, Alice, who doesn't want to stay there any longer, believing Peter to be the pawn of a large oil company.

So when Peter is kidnapped, and Terry appears, Alice is torn apart with anxiety, remorse, and attraction to Terry. And that's not the only complication.

The story unfolds in two layers--Peter's experience as a hostage, and Terry's attempts to negotiate his release. Both stories are fascinating and frightening. Yet neither quite come off as well as you might hope. And least successful of all, is the relationship between Terry and Alice that is so poorly portrayed that in the climatic moment when Terry leans in for the kiss, the people around me laughed out loud.

It's not readily apparent where this movie derails, but stumble and fall it does. It's not the fault of the subject matter, which is quite fascinating. The actors are mostly creditable. Meg Ryan is nicely cast as Alice, and David Morse is really stellar as Peter. And forgive me for a sexist remark if I comment that Russell Crowe as Terry is so gorgeous that the rest of the movie doesn't matter.


Home || Complete list of reviews