Proof of Life
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Movie Reviews of Proof of Life
Movie Review: You'll Have to Pay For This Proof Of Life
Summary: 4 Stars
Movie Summary: Alice and Peter Bowman have lived all over the world going wherever Peter's job as an engineer takes them. It has recently taken them to the Latin American country of Tecala. On his way to work one morning, Peter runs into a road block and is pulled from his car by rebels who make money by kidnapping executives who have Kidnap and Ransom insurance. Terry Thorne (Russell Crowe) shows up to take the case but has to leave when they find out that Peter Bowman wasn't insured by his firm. Terry returns a few days later and takes the case with no promise of getting paid for mysterious emotional reasons. He works side by side with Alice (Meg Ryan) fighting to reach a deal that will bring Peter home.My Opinion: This movie was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I found it to be very gripping and exciting. I liked both Peter's plot line and Alice and Terry's. The contrast of the two situations was quite interesting. Peter in the mountains with no comforts, injured feet, and constant stress never knowing if he'll be killed and Terry and Alice in the city with the comforts, injured hearts, constant stress, and never knowing if Peter is alive. I would have liked the deleted love scene to be included as an extra feature on the DVD. I'm not sure if I would have liked the movie more or less with it in it. There is something compelling about unfulfilled forbidden love. What I do know is that David Caruso gives and awesome performance. This is the first thing that I have seen him in since NYPD Blue that I have actually liked. Had everything he'd done since leaving the show been this good, he'd be a lot bigger star today.
DVD Quality: Widescreen anamorphic 2.35:1, DD5.1. Extras include trailers, commentary, Making of Documentary.
What You Should Do: See it. A rental will probably do unless you are a Crowe or Ryan movie collector.
Movie Review: Subtelty as an Art Form
Summary: 4 Stars
When I initially watched Proof of Life I was a little disappointed. I thought that the romantic subplot between Russell Crowe's and Meg Ryan's characters was underdevelopped. However, when I watched it again, I realized that there was more to this movie and the romance than I saw during my first viewing. The romance and interaction between the two leads was subtle, but that lended itself to the story in ways that more obvious romantic moments would not have. Terry (Crowe) is a man that gets a lot done without wasting words. His feelings for Alice (Ryan) are obvious because the things he does not say are more important than the things he does say. Understated is the word to describe the relationship between Terry and Alice, but that does not mean it's portrayal is ineffective.In addition to excellent performances (espeically from Crowe and the supporting actors playing Dino and Peter - sorry, I can't remember their names at the moment) the action sequences are superb, and the insight into the relatively unheard of K&R business is unique. You don't find this information in any other films.
I've heard Proof of Life referred to as "the thinking man's action movie" and I'd have to agree. It does make you think. It has subtlety down to an art form and uses subtext as a key to unlocking the relationship between Terry and Alice.
On a side note, the DVD has a really interesting director's commentary. I am generally not a fan of direcor's commentary, but this one is very insightful and gives more information on K&R and the background of the story than could ever be put in a movie. In my opinion, the Director's Commentary is one of the highlights of the DVD.
Movie Review: An action thriller full of tension instead of action...
Summary: 4 Stars
Kidnapping for ransom is a waiting game, and this film, Proof Of Life, reflects that. The days, weeks, and months go by as the negotiators discuss the value of lives measured in pesos, or euros, or dollars.
Engineer Peter Bowman (David Morse) is kidnapped by South American rebels. Initially, it looks like his case is being handled by Terry Thorne's (Russell Crowe) operation, which works for insurance companies by providing negotiation and retrieval services for covered clients. Thorne begins his work by interviewing Alice Bowman (Meg Ryan), but suddenly is pulled off the case. It seems that Peter Bowman's employer didn't pay their premiums. As far as the insurance companies go, it's not their problem anymore.
For mysterious reasons, Terry Thorne returns stays on the case for months, until the kidnapping is... resolved.
Russell Crowe is calm and unshakable throughout, as you would hope a negotiator is. Meg Ryan also remains calm... too calm, perhaps, for the stress she should be under. We see snippets of David Morse as a kidnapping victim. He is defiant, but controlled.
No one ever seems to be taking the kidnapping personally, like Denzel Washington in Man on Fire. It's just a job.
Thrilling movie to watch. But why did Crowe return to the case? And why didn't he push the involved government official to talk (what would Liam Neeson in Taken do)? Don't think too deeply about this one.
Movie Review: THE MOVIE IS QUITE GOOD, BUT WHY NOT SAY COLOMBIA?
Summary: 4 Stars
I liked the movie quite a lot, there is quite a bit of tension, action at the end, and Russell Crowe was again amazing, Meg Ryan was O.k and David Morse was very good. And people who say it musn not be like this, or that don't know if the movie is realistic, well, it is very realistic, I live in Colombia and this is our everyday on the news, and the people who manage to return safely, tell the most awful stories of how their kidnapping was. Here in Colombia this movie was a bigger success than in U.S.A, amybe because in the States it was shadowed by the real life (Russell and Meg's affair) but here it came after that news and it was loved, no one complained about it being bias, it is not, it is very realistic, the reason I don't give it 5 stars is because in the movie they don't say Colombia but Tecala, a fake country, reviews said that it was, well it's not, the movie is based in Colombia, it has several Colombian actors who conformed the supporting cast, the towns and cities relly look like Colombian places, unlike movies like Romancing the Stone, Colombia looked like Mexico in that film, but on this one, although it wasn't shot in Colombia because of the situation here, it may as well pass as Colombia, and the story is very realistic, the ELN, not ELT like in the movie, and Las Farc here do all thoose things to people and worst, actually the film might be too soft, but some things are too crude for Hollywood, but nevertheless, this is an excellent way for people in U.S.A to see what we live through every day, just replace Tecala for Colombia, ELT for ELN and you are set for ean entertaining and educational movie.Movie Review: Great drama with a few holes
Summary: 4 Stars
I really wanted to see this movie, to the point that, when they showed it on an airplane flight I was on, I purposefully didn't watch it because I wanted to get the full impact of it without interruptions. The movie is definitely worth watching and having, but it falls just short of truly shining.I generally enjoy Meg Ryan, but in this script she comes across as a little *too* ditzy and unintelligent. There are definite "good guys" and "bad guys" in the film, and for someone who has been living in various situations around the world for several years, her character is blissfully unaware of much.
Her husband, Peter, is GREAT. He is by far the best role in the film, and I wish they had spent more time on him. They way he interacts with his captors, the situations that go on - these are really well done.
Terry - Russell Crowe - is very good as the man who understands and knows these situations, and who works diligently on the case despite not being paid. He and Alice begin to fall for each other as they work so closely together, and I wish that this, too, was developed better. Not that I wanted them to end up together, but the way in which their relationship changed and grew could have been better portrayed.
I'm a HUGE fan of samurai movies, and perhaps this is what a lot of this reminded me of - Terry doing what had to be done, doing his job, because it was the RIGHT thing to do. Yes, he is human, and has desires and fears, but he diligently tries to do his very best.