Proof of Life (2000)

Director:

Taylor Hackford

Writers (WGA):

Tony Gilroy (written by)
William Prochnau (article) (inspiration)

Release Date:

8 December 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

Alice hires a professional negotiator to obtain the release of her engineer husband, who has been kidnapped by anti-government guerrillas in South America.

Plot Keywords:

Negotiator | Ransom | South America | Money | Box Office Flop

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Meg Ryan	...	Alice Bowman
Russell Crowe	...	Terry Thorne
David Morse	...	Peter Bowman
Pamela Reed	...	Janis Goodman
David Caruso	...	Dino
Anthony Heald	...	Ted Fellner
Stanley Anderson	...	Jerry
Gottfried John	...	Eric Kessler
Alun Armstrong	...	Wyatt
Michael Kitchen	...	Ian Havery
Margo Martindale	...	Ivy
Mario Ernesto Sánchez	...	Arturo Fernandez (as Mario Ernesto Sanchez)
Pietro Sibille	...	Juaco
Vicky Hernández	...	Maria (as Vicky Hernandez)
Norma Martínez	...	Norma (as Norma Martinez)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and some drug material.

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish | Russian | Italian | French

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:18PL | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Chile:TE | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Ecuador

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

The school bus full of children shown in the kidnapping scene are students of Colegio Aleman (German High School), a private school located outside of Quito chartered by the German government.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Peter is photographed by his captors, his feet are completely red, covered in blood. Then when the instant-photograph is being looked at in the hotel room by Terry, Alice and Janis, there is less blood and injury visible on his feet.

Quotes:

Alice Bowman: My daughter is buried in Africa. Who can explain that!
Terry Thorne: What was her name?
Alice Bowman: Mali. Mali Jasmine Bowman
Terry Thorne: It's a beautiful name.
Alice Bowman: You know, nobody ever asked me that.

Movie Connections:

References Soldier of Fortune (1955)

Soundtrack:

Mala Suerte

Great on military details

Proof of Life might well satisfy those more knowledgeable in real-life military matters. When Terry (Crowe) explains to Alice (Ryan) how he started out in the Australian Army, but left for the British Army because there wasn't enough action...he was stating a very plausible possibility. The British Army does indeed accept recruits from Commonwealth nations. Terry also says he is veteran of the elite British Special Air Service, and again, it is true that a huge proportion of ex-SAS members end up in private security efforts of various kinds. When the big raid is carried off, the costumers took enough care to dress Terry in British DPM fatigues, while the American Dino (Caruso) wears American BDU fatigues. Again, this is plausible as these are the sorts of fatigues both men took with them when they left military service. I've seen a lot of reviewers here criticize the end raid sequence.

I found the actions scenes very good and a welcome change from most movies. Terry and Dino actually plan for covering fire from higher ground, fields of fire, etc. So many military raids in movies (The Dogs of War is a good example) just have the characters march out in the open and fire from the hip, with no seeming plan of movement other than to run around, destroy stuff, and look dramatic. Terry and his team never stuck around any longer, nor killed any more of the guerrillas, then necessary to rescue the hostages and escape.

I can see where these details failed to find appreciation with the general viewing public, but I only hope others doing such movies continue to try to be authentic and realistic.