Proof of Life
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| Proof of Life | |
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 Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Taylor Hackford |
| Produced by | Executive Producers: Tony Gilroy Steven Reuther Producers: Taylor Hackford Charles Mulvehill |
| Written by | Tony Gilroy |
| Starring | Russell Crowe Meg Ryan David Morse David Caruso |
| Music by | Danny Elfman |
| Cinematography | Slawomir Idziak |
| Editing by | Sheldon Kahn John Smith |
| Distributed by | Warner Brothers |
| Release date(s) | December 8, 2000 |
| Running time | 135 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English Spanish |
| Budget | $65,000,000 |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Proof of Life is an American film released in 2000, directed by Taylor Hackford. 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,"[1] and the book The Long March To Freedom by Thomas Hargrove.[2]
The picture stars Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe. It is perhaps best remembered as the film during which the two lead actors both 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.[3]
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[edit] Plot
Alice Bowman moves to the (fictional) South American 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 guerilla 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-Special Air Service officer, arrives in Tecala, fresh from a successful hostage rescue near Russia. Because of his expert skill in kidnap and ransom, he is hired by Peter’s company to assist in bringing about Peter’s safe return. Unfortunately, it’s revealed 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, another ex-military man.
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 their attraction to one another grows quickly. 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 ex-member of the French Foreign Legion, who’s lived in the camp for nine 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, not knowing Peter is still alive, confesses to Alice that her husband is dead.
Thorne refuses to believe this, but he is unable to contact his ELT radio negotiator. Luckily, Alice’s native housekeeper reveals the true identity of the ELT radio contact, as she knows his voice quite well because the two have met. 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 the opportunity for a deal has passed, and the ELT army will no longer negotiate.
Thorne, Dino, and several other military friends enter the jungles and raid the ELT base. They free not only Peter, but other hostages located there as well. Peter is rescued and brought back safely to Alice. Thorne and Alice share a tender last conversation, knowing their love can never be.
[edit] Tecala
The Republic of Tecala, where most of Proof of Life is set, is a fictional South American 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.
The ELT was soon powerful enough to seize authority over the cocaine trade in Tecala, with Tecala claimed to supposedly be the second-largest producer after Colombia.
The ELT is still at war with the government, participating in military skirmishes and carrying out terrorist bombings in the capital city of Tecala.
[edit] Background
Although the producers wanted to film in Colombia, due to the dangers that guerrillas pose in that country, 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), or at least on common perceptions of the group. Coincidentally, Colombia's second largest guerrilla group is the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional or ELN.
A map shows that Tecala's southern border resembles the Ecuador-Peru border.
[edit] Cigarette smoking
The film extensively features Meg Ryan smoking cigarettes. These smoking scenes, though not characterized as glamorous, have been criticized by anti-tobacco activists such as Rob Reiner as promoting tobacco usage among children.[4]
[edit] Cast
- Russell Crowe as Terry Thorne
- Meg Ryan as Alice Bowman
- David Morse as Peter Bowman
- Pamela Reed as Janis Goodman
- David Caruso as Dino
- Anthony Heald as Ted Fellner
- Stanley Anderson as Jerry
- Gottfried John as Eric Kessler
- Alun Armstrong as Wyatt
- Michael Kitchen as Ian Havery
- Margo Martindale as Ivy
- Mario Ernesto Sánchez as Arturo Fernandez
- Pietro Sibille as Juaco
- Vicky Hernández as Maria
- Norma Martínez as Norma
[edit] Critical reception
Stephen Holden, film critic for The New York Times, 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."[5]
Critic David Anson 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."[6]
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 39% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 110 reviews."[7]
[edit] Distribution
The film opened in wide release in the United States on December 8, 2000 (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.[8]
[edit] 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; Worst Movie ever made; 2001.
- Satellite Awards: Golden Satellite Award; Best Original Score, Danny Elfman; 2001.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ Prochnau, William (1998-05). " "Adventures in the ransom trade." Vanity Fair (453): 134-144. New York: Condé Nast Publications. ISSN 0733-8899.
- ^ Proof of Life at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Hollywood.com. Hollywood Media Corp., 2007. Last accessed: December 30, 2007.
- ^ Meyer, Carla. San Francisco Chronicle, "Rising up from the ashtrays," December 27, 2001. Last accessed: April 4, 2008.
- ^ Holden, Stephen. The New York Times, film review, "Where Cynicism Rules, Integrity Can Be Heroic," December 8, 2000.
- ^ Anson, David. Newsweek, film review, December 11, 2000. Last accessed: April 4, 2008.
- ^ Proof of Life at Rotten Tomatoes. Last accessed: April 4, 2008.
- ^ The Numbers box office data. Last accessed: November 23, 2007
[edit] External links
- Proof of Life at the Internet Movie Database
- Proof of Life at Allmovie
- Proof of Life at Box Office Mojo
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