Terry Thorne is a bit of everyone that Russell Crowe's played before – as a hostage and ransom negotiator working for corporations trying to pay as little as possible for their missing executives he has to be cool under pressure, astute, and when necessary handy with an Uzi or a knife. It's a bit of a disappointment for him to arrive in the mythical South American country of Tecala to find that there's no insurance to cover the ransom for missing American engineer Peter Burman – David Morse – because Thorne would have liked to help Burman's wife Alice – Meg Ryan. But he overcomes his business qualms for reasons that are hinted at and offers to help anyway. The film then swings between the ordeals experienced by Burman at the hands of his captors in tough mountainous terrain and the city-based efforts of Thorne and Alice to recover him.
Proof of Life is part romance, part political thriller and part action adventure. Director Taylor Hackford shows his strength in the scenes in the mountains. There's a realism achieved here helped by the locations and by the performance of David Morse, an actor who brings an unaffected gravitas to any film. What emerges also is the strength of Russell Crowe as a star, he has charisma. Although despite any off-screen chemistry between him and Meg Ryan, it fails to ignite on screen. This is one of her least memorable performances. It's obvious that Hackford is more comfortable in depicting men's business on screen. David Caruso, who failed to carry off the starring role in Jade, proves his worth in this as Thorne's mate and colleague. I found myself enjoying Proof of Life for what it was – an entertainment.
Comments from David Stratton: A very disappointing film, which has all the ingredients – kidnap rescue drama, exciting location filmed on the big screen, hot stars – but just fails to work. Taylor Hackford's direction is to blame; he makes too many of the characters, especially the redundant one of the kidnapped man's sister, overplayed by Pamela Reed, thoroughly unsympathetic, and the treatment is unusually slow and turgid for this kind of film.
