Video Capsule: Proof of Life 6.5/10

[Bud_Fox]

Proof of Life
Starring:Russell Crowe, Meg Ryan, David Caruso, David Morse.

Proof of Life is set in South America where we first meet Alice (Meg Ryan)(...hey wasn't that her name in When A Man Loves a Woman!) and her husband Peter (David Morse), an engineer who wants to build a dam to prevent flooding in a small city. Peter's company whom he is down there working for is being acquired by a large oil company which is looking to drill for oil and run a pipeline behind the dam. As is obviously shown in the trailer, David Morse's character is kidnapped by a rebel military group of Latin American guerillas and a ransom of 5 million dollars is demanded. Unfortunately the big oil company aquiring the company Peter works for could care less about the engineer, and to add insult to injury to save money the company did away with kidnap insurance to cut costs. The United States embassy only pats Meg Ryan on the back and gives her a sympathetic smile. Oh God who can Meg Ryan turn to?? Cut to entrance of Super-Star Australian kidnap and ransom negotiator Terry Thorne aka Gladiator! Let the games begin! (dennis who?)

Although entertaining I found few redeeming qualities about this movie. Of course there were a few. One huge positive was the great scenery shots of South America and its vast expanse of mountains covered in lush green jungle (the Rain Forest I am guessing ) Proof of Life also does a good job (very similar to the style of Traffic) in bringing to light many facts and truths of harsh realities which occur outside of our happy little sheltered suburbanite lives.
The negatives of this movie (for me) far outweigh the positives. Although it was nice to see Crowe at ease speaking in his native Australian tongue, for some reason it just did not fit this part. And it also didn't sit right with me that he worked for an English agency- WTF. What also really peeved me was the amount of times I've seen Meg Ryan in a movie where she is frantically upset and smoking a cigarette in a big beautiful kitchen! Maybe its me but Meg Ryan's one trick pony show is getting way fucking old. David Morse also does a great job of showing how to ridiculously over-act, in a kitchen scene in the very beginning of the movie where him and Ryan are arguing. Man was that scene bad! What was also bad was the stereotypical part Caruso was cast in as Crowe's soldier buddy. Hang me for saying so but I dig Caruso's acting and think he was way under used in this movie.

Overall Proof of Life is proof that a good cast doth not guarantee a good movie. Once again the trailer succeeds in giving away half the fucking plot, and what the trailer doesn't give away is oftly predictable anyway. A good rental, or a decent flick to catch on cable if it's raining out and your bored with nothing else to do.

p.s. (post spoiler) why the fuck was there a romance sub plot written in with Crowe and Ryan? For me this was totally self-defeating of the story and just plain stupid.




[This message has been edited by Bud_Fox (edited 08-24-2001).]

[Mike]

The only thing that kept me watching this movie was Meg Ryan. She looked cute just like she always does. The movie was pretty boring for quite awhile and then it got a little more interesting, but just a little. The scenes in the other country where Meg Ryans husband was being held were laughable, was it supposed to be a comedy? Didn't think so. The people holding him captive were so stupid and the stuff they said had me cracking up laughing. I didn't like her husband anyway so I didn't care if he lived or died. Both Meg Ryan and Russel Crowe did good jobs but the movies script is pretty much shit. Meg Ryans cuteness kept me watching but other than that this movie is pretty boring. I think part of the reason this movie was boring is because it was WAY too long. And I just didn't give a shit about anyone in this movie, except Meg Ryan of course. And Meg Ryans sister inlaw was so fucking annoying, all she did was complain and cry and she just annoyed the hell out of me. This wasn't the worst movie I've seen but it's not that good either.

Grade: 5.5/10

[ilovemovies]

I liked this movie a lot. I liked how the love story (sortof) was kept lowkey and not played out all the way(it was said that they deleted a love scene between Crowe and Ryan which I think was a smart move) and how it showed David Morse's character as he was being held captive. Russell Crowe is excellent. Meg Ryan was good too. Morse was very good. But the real scene stealer in the movie is David Caruso as Dino, one of Terry(Crowe)'s friends. The movie is tense and exciting especailly the ending when(**spoilers**) they go in and rescue him.
So good acting, interesting story, crisp and exciting action and nice photography all help make Proof of Life a winner.
grade: B+
rating: ***
8/10

[inglourious basterd]

I thought the movie was rather entertaining. Russell Crowe busted out some good acting expressions and I was truely impressed. I was not expecting much from this movie, and I was definitely not disappointed. Relationships between characters were well defined and the story was relatively well written. It is defintely worth renting. 7/10. (I saw this movie a few months ago so I cant give a review with much more depth than that.)

[This message has been edited by psudoazn (edited 08-28-2001).]