Proof of Life
Encyclopedia
Proof of Life is a 2000
American
film, directed by Taylor Hackford
. The title refers to a phrase commonly used to indicate proof that a kidnap victim is still alive. The film's screenplay was authored by Tony Gilroy
, who also was a co-executive producer, and was inspired by William Prochnau
's Vanity Fair
magazine article "Adventures in the Ransom Trade," and the book The Long March To Freedom by Thomas Hargrove in which Hargrove recounts how his release was negotiated by Thomas Clayton, played by Russell Crowe
, who went on to be the founder of kidnap-for-ransom consultancy Clayton Consultants, Inc.
The picture stars Meg Ryan
and Russell Crowe
. It is perhaps best remembered as the film during which the two lead actors had a romantic affair. At the time of filming, Ryan was married to Dennis Quaid
, but the two divorced in 2001. The film garnered much reportage in the tabloid
press in association with the lead actors' affair. The film is dedicated to Will Gaffney, an actor who was David Morse
's stand-in. He was killed in an on-set accident during a scene in which Morse was not available, due to a family illness.
) moves to the (fictional) South America
n country of Tecala because her husband, Peter (David Morse
), has been hired to assist with building a dam
. Though Alice is unhappy at this most recent move, she agrees to stay. When Peter is in the city one day, a convoy of automobiles (including his) is ambushed by guerrilla rebels of the Liberation Army of Tecala (ELT). Believing that Peter actually works for an oil pipeline company, ELT soldiers abduct him and lead him into the country’s jungles.
Terry Thorne (Russell Crowe
), an ex-Australian SASR
soldier, who later served with the British SAS due to lack of action in Australia, arrives in Tecala, fresh from a successful hostage rescue in Chechnya
(Chechenskaya Respublika). Because of his expert skill in kidnapping
-and-ransom
cases, he is hired by Peter’s company to assist in bringing about Peter’s safe return. Unfortunately, it turns out that Peter’s company actually has no insurance
coverage for kidnapping, so they cannot afford Thorne’s services. Despite Alice’s pleas to stay, Thorne leaves the country
. Alice gets teamed up with a local hostage
negotiator, who immediately urges her to pay the ELT’s first demand: a $50,000 “good faith” ransom payment. Not knowing what to do, Alice agrees, but the transaction is stopped by Thorne, who, following his conscience, has returned to help. He is aided by Dino (David Caruso
), an ex-Green Beret.
Over the next several months, Thorne uses a radio
to talk with an ELT contact, and the two argue over terms for Peter’s release—including a ransom
payment that Alice can afford. With much downtime between conversations, Thorne and Alice talk, and an implicit attraction between the two seems to emerge. After much negotiation, it appears that the ELT will release Peter for a sum of $650,000.
Meanwhile, Peter is led through the jungle
by a group of younger rebels before arriving at the main jungle camp. There, he meets another hostage, Kessler, a missionary and former member of the French Foreign Legion
, who has lived in the camp for nineteen months. The two concoct a plan to escape through the jungle. During their attempt, they are tracked by the ELT. Kessler falls into a river and manages to evade capture, but Peter steps on a trap and is recaptured. Kessler is found and hospitalized. In the hospital, he meets Alice and, having heard a gunshot at the time Peter was recaptured, tells Alice he believes her husband is dead.
Thorne refuses to believe this, but he is unable to contact his ELT radio negotiator. Luckily, Alice’s housekeeper's daughter reveals the true identity of the ELT radio contact; she knows his voice quite well because she has done laundry service for him in the past. Thorne goes to the Tecala race track and confronts the ELT contact, who is actually a high-ranking government
official. The contact confirms that Peter is indeed alive, but because Peter has seen secret ELT maps the opportunity for a deal has passed, and the ELT army will no longer negotiate.
At Thorne's urging Alice convinces the Tecala government the ELT is about the mount an attack on the pipeline being built through their territory. The government army crossing the river draws the bulk of the ELT army out of the camp to counter-attack. This provides an opportunity for Thorne, Dino, and several associates to insert by helicopter and raid the ELT base. They overcome the resistance of the minimal defense left holding the camp and free not only Peter but also an Italian hostage held there as well. And so Peter is rescued and brought back safely to Alice. Thorne and Alice share a final moment together wherein the unrequited bond between them is painfully expressed, and the movie ends with a poignant image of a lonely hero.
, due to the dangers that guerrillas posed in that country at the time, the movie was mainly filmed in Ecuador. The large piles of money used to pay for the rescue were sucres
, the Ecuadorian national currency at the time of the filming. Tecala's geographic and urban appearance and its political characteristics were based loosely on a mix of several Andean
countries.
The characterization of the ELT appears to be primarily based on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC). Coincidentally, Colombia's second largest guerrilla group is the Ejército de Liberación Nacional
or ELN.
n country. Tecala has long been the scene of an internal conflict between its government forces and the Liberation Army of Tecala (ELT). The ELT was originally a Marxist guerrilla group supported by the Soviet Union
, but after the fall of the Soviet Union
in 1991, the ELT's primary source of funding fell through, and they began kidnapping
people for ransom to fund their operations. A map seen in the film is a map of Ecuador
. The country's capital Quito
was chosen along with the eastern jungle and the nearby city of Baños de Agua Santa in the Ecuadorian Andes
.
, did not think the film worked well and opined that the actors did not connect. He wrote, "[the film displays] a gaping lack of emotional connection among the characters in a romantic triangle that feels conspicuously unromantic... what ultimately sinks this stylish but heartless film is a flat lead performance by the eternally snippy
Meg Ryan... Ms. Ryan expresses no inner conflict, nor much of anything else beyond a mounting tension. Even when her wide blue eyes well up with tears, the pain she conveys is more the frustration of a little girl who has misplaced her doll than any deep, empathetic suffering."
Critic David Ansen gave the film a mixed review, writing, "Taylor Hackford's thriller Proof of Life leaves a lot to be desired, but it's got its hands on a fascinating subject...To be fair, Tony Gilroy's screenplay keeps the romance on the back burner...Thorne is the most compelling aspect of Proof of Life, thanks to Crowe's quiet, hard-bitten charisma. It's a part Bogart
once would have played—the amoral tough guy who rises to the moral occasion—and Crowe gives it just the right note of gravel-voiced masculinity. But neither Crowe, Ryan nor the topical subject keeps Proof of Life from feeling recycled. For all the up-to-the-minute research, the movie still gives off the musty scent of Hollywood contrivance."
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
reported that 39% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 110 reviews."
on December 8, 2000 for 2,705 screens.
The opening weekend's gross was $10,207,869 and the total receipts for the U.S. run were $32,598,931. The international box-office receipts were $30,162,074, for total receipts of $62,761,005. The film was in wide release in the U.S. for twelve weeks (eighty days). In its widest release the film was featured in 2,705 theaters across the country.
2000 in film
The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ....
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film, directed by Taylor Hackford
Taylor Hackford
Taylor Edwin Hackford is an American film director, and the current president of the Directors Guild of America.-Early life:Hackford was born in Santa Barbara, California, the son of Mary , a waitress, and Joseph Hackford...
. The title refers to a phrase commonly used to indicate proof that a kidnap victim is still alive. The film's screenplay was authored by Tony Gilroy
Tony Gilroy
Anthony Joseph "Tony" Gilroy is an American screenwriter and filmmaker. He wrote the screenplays for the Bourne series starring Matt Damon, among other successful films. He has been nominated for Academy Awards for his direction and script for Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney...
, who also was a co-executive producer, and was inspired by William Prochnau
William Prochnau
William Walter Prochnau is an American journalist.His work on the Vietnam War while at the Seattle Times landed him on the master list of Nixon political opponents....
's Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
magazine article "Adventures in the Ransom Trade," and the book The Long March To Freedom by Thomas Hargrove in which Hargrove recounts how his release was negotiated by Thomas Clayton, played by Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
, who went on to be the founder of kidnap-for-ransom consultancy Clayton Consultants, Inc.
The picture stars Meg Ryan
Meg Ryan
Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra , professionally known as Meg Ryan, is an American actress and producer. Raised in Bethel, Connecticut, Ryan began her acting career in 1981 in minor roles, before joining the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982...
and Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
. It is perhaps best remembered as the film during which the two lead actors had a romantic affair. At the time of filming, Ryan was married to Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
, but the two divorced in 2001. The film garnered much reportage in the tabloid
Tabloid journalism
Tabloid journalism tends to emphasize topics such as sensational crime stories, astrology, gossip columns about the personal lives of celebrities and sports stars, and junk food news...
press in association with the lead actors' affair. The film is dedicated to Will Gaffney, an actor who was David Morse
David Morse (actor)
David Bowditch Morse is an American stage, television, and film actor. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack Morrison in the medical drama St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988...
's stand-in. He was killed in an on-set accident during a scene in which Morse was not available, due to a family illness.
Plot
Alice Bowman (Meg RyanMeg Ryan
Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra , professionally known as Meg Ryan, is an American actress and producer. Raised in Bethel, Connecticut, Ryan began her acting career in 1981 in minor roles, before joining the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982...
) moves to the (fictional) South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n country of Tecala because her husband, Peter (David Morse
David Morse (actor)
David Bowditch Morse is an American stage, television, and film actor. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack Morrison in the medical drama St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988...
), has been hired to assist with building a dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
. Though Alice is unhappy at this most recent move, she agrees to stay. When Peter is in the city one day, a convoy of automobiles (including his) is ambushed by guerrilla rebels of the Liberation Army of Tecala (ELT). Believing that Peter actually works for an oil pipeline company, ELT soldiers abduct him and lead him into the country’s jungles.
Terry Thorne (Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
), an ex-Australian SASR
Australian Special Air Service Regiment
The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR but commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army...
soldier, who later served with the British SAS due to lack of action in Australia, arrives in Tecala, fresh from a successful hostage rescue in Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
(Chechenskaya Respublika). Because of his expert skill in kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
-and-ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
cases, he is hired by Peter’s company to assist in bringing about Peter’s safe return. Unfortunately, it turns out that Peter’s company actually has no insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
coverage for kidnapping, so they cannot afford Thorne’s services. Despite Alice’s pleas to stay, Thorne leaves the country
Country
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
. Alice gets teamed up with a local hostage
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
negotiator, who immediately urges her to pay the ELT’s first demand: a $50,000 “good faith” ransom payment. Not knowing what to do, Alice agrees, but the transaction is stopped by Thorne, who, following his conscience, has returned to help. He is aided by Dino (David Caruso
David Caruso
David Stephen Caruso is an American film and television actor and producer, best known for his role of Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the TV series CSI: Miami. The role that gained him initial significant recognition was the role of Det...
), an ex-Green Beret.
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
to talk with an ELT contact, and the two argue over terms for Peter’s release—including a ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
payment that Alice can afford. With much downtime between conversations, Thorne and Alice talk, and an implicit attraction between the two seems to emerge. After much negotiation, it appears that the ELT will release Peter for a sum of $650,000.
Meanwhile, Peter is led through the jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
by a group of younger rebels before arriving at the main jungle camp. There, he meets another hostage, Kessler, a missionary and former member of the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
, who has lived in the camp for nineteen months. The two concoct a plan to escape through the jungle. During their attempt, they are tracked by the ELT. Kessler falls into a river and manages to evade capture, but Peter steps on a trap and is recaptured. Kessler is found and hospitalized. In the hospital, he meets Alice and, having heard a gunshot at the time Peter was recaptured, tells Alice he believes her husband is dead.
Thorne refuses to believe this, but he is unable to contact his ELT radio negotiator. Luckily, Alice’s housekeeper's daughter reveals the true identity of the ELT radio contact; she knows his voice quite well because she has done laundry service for him in the past. Thorne goes to the Tecala race track and confronts the ELT contact, who is actually a high-ranking government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
official. The contact confirms that Peter is indeed alive, but because Peter has seen secret ELT maps the opportunity for a deal has passed, and the ELT army will no longer negotiate.
At Thorne's urging Alice convinces the Tecala government the ELT is about the mount an attack on the pipeline being built through their territory. The government army crossing the river draws the bulk of the ELT army out of the camp to counter-attack. This provides an opportunity for Thorne, Dino, and several associates to insert by helicopter and raid the ELT base. They overcome the resistance of the minimal defense left holding the camp and free not only Peter but also an Italian hostage held there as well. And so Peter is rescued and brought back safely to Alice. Thorne and Alice share a final moment together wherein the unrequited bond between them is painfully expressed, and the movie ends with a poignant image of a lonely hero.
Cast
- Meg RyanMeg RyanMargaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra , professionally known as Meg Ryan, is an American actress and producer. Raised in Bethel, Connecticut, Ryan began her acting career in 1981 in minor roles, before joining the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982...
as Alice Bowman - Russell CroweRussell CroweRussell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
as Terry Thorne - David MorseDavid Morse (actor)David Bowditch Morse is an American stage, television, and film actor. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack Morrison in the medical drama St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988...
as Peter Bowman - Pamela ReedPamela ReedPamela Reed is an American actress. She is known for playing Ruth Powers in various episodes of TV's The Simpsons, as Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic partner in the 1990 movie Kindergarten Cop and as the matriarch Gail Green in Jericho...
as Janis Goodman - David CarusoDavid CarusoDavid Stephen Caruso is an American film and television actor and producer, best known for his role of Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the TV series CSI: Miami. The role that gained him initial significant recognition was the role of Det...
as Dino - Anthony HealdAnthony HealdPhilip Anthony Mair Heald, known professionally as Anthony Heald , is an American actor known for portraying Hannibal Lecter's jail nemesis, Dr. Frederick Chilton in The Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon, and for playing assistant principal Scott Guber in David E. Kelley's Boston Public...
as Ted Fellner - Michael ByrneMichael Byrne (actor)Michael Byrne is an English actor noted for his roles on film and television. He has often been cast in Nazi military roles such as Colonel Vogel in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Obergruppenführer Odilo Globocnik in the BBC radio dramatisation of the novel Fatherland by Robert Harris...
as Lord Luthan - Stanley Anderson as Jerry
- Gottfried JohnGottfried John-Life and work:During the 1970s and early 1980s, Gottfried John played various roles in films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, notably that of Reinhold in the epic Berlin Alexanderplatz . He is internationally known for his portrayals of General Ourumov in the James Bond film GoldenEye and Julius...
as Eric Kessler - Alun ArmstrongAlun Armstrong (actor)Alun Armstrong is a prolific British character actor. Armstrong grew up in County Durham in North East England. He first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his grammar school. Since his career began in the early 1970s, he has played, in his words, "the full spectrum of...
as Wyatt - Michael KitchenMichael KitchenMichael Kitchen is an English actor and television producer, best known for his starring role as DCS Foyle in the British TV series Foyle's War.-Early life:...
as Ian Havery - Margo MartindaleMargo MartindaleMargo Martindale is an American stage, television and film actress. In 2011, Martindale won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as Mags Bennett on Justified.-Early life:...
as Ivy - Mario Ernesto SánchezMario Ernesto SánchezMario Ernesto Sánchez founded Teatro Avante, a Hispanic theatre, in 1979 in Florida. He played various bit parts on Miami Vice and in Hollywood movies.Sánchez went to the United States as a child during the Pedro Pan Operation...
as Arturo Fernandez - Pietro SibillePietro SibillePietro Sibille is a Peruvian actor.He won recognition with the Peruvian indie film Días de Santiago, playing the role of a Peruvian ex-soldier with big issues...
as Juaco - Vicky HernándezVicky HernándezVicky Hernández is a Colombian movie, theater and TV actress.-Film:*2005 Les Gens Honnêtes Vivent en France *2004 Perder es Cuestión de Método, de Sergio Cabrera*2004 El Cristo de Plata*2000 Proof of Life, de Taylor Hackford - prod...
as Maria - Norma Martínez as Norma
Background
Although the producers wanted to film in ColombiaColombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, due to the dangers that guerrillas posed in that country at the time, the movie was mainly filmed in Ecuador. The large piles of money used to pay for the rescue were sucres
Ecuadorian sucre
The sucre was the currency of Ecuador between 1884 and 2000. Its ISO code was ECS and it was subdivided into 10 decimos or 100 centavos. The sucre was named after Antonio José de Sucre.-History:...
, the Ecuadorian national currency at the time of the filming. Tecala's geographic and urban appearance and its political characteristics were based loosely on a mix of several Andean
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
countries.
The characterization of the ELT appears to be primarily based on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army is a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization based in Colombia which is involved in the ongoing Colombian armed conflict, currently involved in drug dealing and crimes against the civilians..FARC-EP is a peasant army which...
(FARC). Coincidentally, Colombia's second largest guerrilla group is the Ejército de Liberación Nacional
National Liberation Army (Colombia)
National Liberation Army is a revolutionary, avowed Marxist guerrilla group that has been operating in several regions of Colombia since 1964....
or ELN.
Tecala
The Republic of Tecala, where most of Proof of Life is set, is a fictional South AmericaSouth America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n country. Tecala has long been the scene of an internal conflict between its government forces and the Liberation Army of Tecala (ELT). The ELT was originally a Marxist guerrilla group supported by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, but after the fall of the Soviet Union
History of the Soviet Union (1985-1991)
The history of the Soviet Union from 1982 through 1991, spans the period from Leonid Brezhnev's death and funeral until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Due to the years of Soviet military buildup at the expense of domestic development, economic growth stagnated...
in 1991, the ELT's primary source of funding fell through, and they began kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
people for ransom to fund their operations. A map seen in the film is a map of Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
. The country's capital Quito
Quito
San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...
was chosen along with the eastern jungle and the nearby city of Baños de Agua Santa in the Ecuadorian Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
.
Critical reception
Stephen Holden, film critic for The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, did not think the film worked well and opined that the actors did not connect. He wrote, "[the film displays] a gaping lack of emotional connection among the characters in a romantic triangle that feels conspicuously unromantic... what ultimately sinks this stylish but heartless film is a flat lead performance by the eternally snippy
Snippy
Snippy, pronounced , is an adjective meaning "sharp or curt" and "Sharp-tongued; impertinent".- 2000 U.S. presidential election :The word grew to prominence in the United States after its well-publicized use in a phone call between Al Gore and George W. Bush during the 2000 U.S...
Meg Ryan... Ms. Ryan expresses no inner conflict, nor much of anything else beyond a mounting tension. Even when her wide blue eyes well up with tears, the pain she conveys is more the frustration of a little girl who has misplaced her doll than any deep, empathetic suffering."
Critic David Ansen gave the film a mixed review, writing, "Taylor Hackford's thriller Proof of Life leaves a lot to be desired, but it's got its hands on a fascinating subject...To be fair, Tony Gilroy's screenplay keeps the romance on the back burner...Thorne is the most compelling aspect of Proof of Life, thanks to Crowe's quiet, hard-bitten charisma. It's a part Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
once would have played—the amoral tough guy who rises to the moral occasion—and Crowe gives it just the right note of gravel-voiced masculinity. But neither Crowe, Ryan nor the topical subject keeps Proof of Life from feeling recycled. For all the up-to-the-minute research, the movie still gives off the musty scent of Hollywood contrivance."
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 39% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 110 reviews."
Distribution
The film opened in wide release in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on December 8, 2000 for 2,705 screens.
The opening weekend's gross was $10,207,869 and the total receipts for the U.S. run were $32,598,931. The international box-office receipts were $30,162,074, for total receipts of $62,761,005. The film was in wide release in the U.S. for twelve weeks (eighty days). In its widest release the film was featured in 2,705 theaters across the country.
Awards
Nominations- Blockbuster Entertainment Awards: Blockbuster Entertainment Award; Favorite Actor - Suspense, Russell Crowe; Favorite Actress - Suspense, Meg Ryan; Favorite Supporting Actor - Suspense, David Caruso; Favorite Supporting Actress - Suspense, Pamela Reed; 2001.
- Satellite AwardsSatellite AwardsThe Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama...
: Golden Satellite Award; Best Original Score, Danny Elfman; 2001.
See also
- Kidnappings in ColombiaKidnappings in ColombiaKidnappings in Colombia refers to the practice of kidnapping in the Republic of Colombia. This criminal practice was first introduced in modern Colombian history during the early 1970s by the guerrilla movements and, later, also by criminal groups...
- Colombian Armed ConflictColombian Armed ConflictThe Colombian armed conflict or Colombian Civil War are terms that are employed to refer to the current asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict in Colombia that has existed since approximately 1964 or 1966, between the Colombian government and peasant guerrillas such as the Revolutionary Armed...
- List of American films of 2000
External links
- Proof of Life film review at At the MoviesAt the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger EbertAt the Movies was a movie review television program that aired from 1982 to 1990. It was produced by Tribune Entertainment and created by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, who had left Sneak Previews the previous year....
(video of television segment)