Proof Of life - Proof Of Something
 Mar 14th, 2001
Advantages:
Crowe
Disadvantages:
thin plot
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to similar films?
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  danradders
About me:
Due to not being on 'unlimited' internet, I dare not face the wrath of me bill-paying father. When I...
Member since:07.09.2000
Reviews:147
Members who trust:126
Review rated by 35 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
After my disappointment of seeing that The Gift had been sold out at my local cinema, I reluctantly went to this film, without a lot of optimism. Well, I think this was for the best actually! The film is not a classic, but, if like me, you find yourself in a position where there is not a lot of other decent films on near that time, do not dismiss this film. Written by Taylor Hackford, this kidnap drama did flop at the US box office, not sure why, it is not THAT bad, and I did think it was unfair for Hackford to simply blame the flop on the actors for their performances. I have not seen Gladiator, Crowe’s previous film, but I know he was up for all sorts of awards for it, and he gives a strong performance here to, playing Terry Thorne, a specialist negotiator in Kidnap and Ransom. The film focuses on his latest case involving Peter Bowman, played by David
Morse, who is kidnapped at the roadside by guerrillas wearing balaclava’s, and armed with rifles. Thorne’s wife Alice, played by Meg Ryan, is distraught about his kidnapping, and even more so when she discovers that there is no insurance against these kind of incidences in her husbands company. The company is also reluctant to do much about the kidnapping, and it is off his own back that Thorne gets involved. What a nice bloke!
Thorne has the aim of bringing down the ransom to a more reasonable $600,000, and so the negotiations begin over a wireless radio. This does seem like a rather obvious thing to happen, and seems to be only necessary in the film to see the development of the relationship between Thorne and Alice. The relationship that does occur is blatantly going to happen, it did not take a genius to work out what was going to happen, even I knew what was going to happen, and I was not even at the cinema yet! They half fall for each other, and the situation gets more complicated. Thorne’s mission is to save the husband of a woman he wants for himself. This is probably the twist in the plot that the film relies on, and was wrong to do so as the relationship does not seem to go far enough for it to be that emotionally charged. The detail in the film is good, the times when Thorne is negotiating things happen or are heard, and these are picked up later on in the film, making you think ‘oh yeah, that’s true, why didn’t I notice that?’ kind of plot. Of course, the plot twists and turns now and again, nothing that you would not really expect, but is still good viewing. The main plot, as I said, is weak.
I read a couple of reviews before writing this, just to see what others thought, and none of them looked upon the emotional aspect of the film too much. Understandably. As I said, the love story involved is predictable, although it is emotional, enough to make my girlfriends eyes water ever so slightly! The action that does occur in the film, eventually, and this was a great relief to me. The complexity of the action (I won’t go into too much detail) is good, all very top stuff, you know, the smooth operation, killing people is done quietly, rolling down a hill is done in a very extravagant way and everyone is wearing one of those ear pieces and can talk to everyone else without a microphone! Very nice. So, all in all, there is something for the (stereotype) girls, although the romance is a tad weak, there is something for the (stereotype) boys, although it does take a while for the action to arrive. A half decent plot, nothing special, although it is worth a watch, with Crowe giving a good, strong performance, although Meg Ryan just doesn’t seem to give as greater performance.
To be honest, I do not remember the soundtrack, it was not really one of those films which will have a good soundtrack, and, come to think of it, wait until this film is out on video, then rent it out! It is probably
better seen on a warm sofa with nothing on the TV. To answer the title, this film proves Crowe is a good actor, Meg Ryan needs to play a better part in future films, and that mediocre films are still made!
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![Proof Of Life [DVD] [2001]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78542101.jpg)
by (3%):
02.12.2001 22:12
Hey great op, just like the rest of yours, I enjoyed the film, especially the bit where the guy was kidknapped during the traffic jam. Meg ryan was a bit weak in her part. D_guy
21.03.2001 22:31
Gr8 op! i really wanted to go see this film, im definately gonna go now i wanna know exactly what its like. :)
17.03.2001 15:00
Good review - think I might just go and see this film now! Also, thanks for your comment on my last op - I am new to ciao, so it was very encouraging. :-)