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IMDbPro

Proof of Life

  • 2000
  • R
  • 2h 15m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
58K
YOUR RATING
Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan in Proof of Life (2000)
Home Video Trailer from Warner Home Video
Play trailer2:17
1 Video
37 Photos
ActionDramaThriller

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

  • Director
    • Taylor Hackford
  • Writers
    • Tony Gilroy
    • William Prochnau
    • Thomas Hargrove
  • Stars
    • Meg Ryan
    • Russell Crowe
    • David Morse
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.3/10
    58K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Taylor Hackford
    • Writers
      • Tony Gilroy
      • William Prochnau
      • Thomas Hargrove
    • Stars
      • Meg Ryan
      • Russell Crowe
      • David Morse
    • 281User reviews
    • 104Critic reviews
    • 45Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 5 nominations

    Videos1

    Proof of Life
    Trailer 2:17
    Watch Proof of Life

    Photos37

    Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan star
    David Morse stars as Peter Bowman
    David Morse stars as Peter Bowman
    Meg Ryan stars as Alice Bowman
    Alice & Terry
    David Caruso stars as Dino
    Russell Crowe stars as Terry Thorne
    Russell Crowe stars as Terry Thorne
    Russell Crowe with director Taylor Hackford
    Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan in Proof of Life (2000)
    1 sheet movie poster app. 27" x 40"
    Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan in Proof of Life (2000)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Meg Ryan
    Meg Ryan
    • Alice Bowman
    Russell Crowe
    Russell Crowe
    • Terry Thorne
    David Morse
    David Morse
    • Peter Bowman
    Pamela Reed
    Pamela Reed
    • Janis Goodman
    David Caruso
    David Caruso
    • Dino
    Anthony Heald
    Anthony Heald
    • Ted Fellner
    Stanley Anderson
    Stanley Anderson
    • Jerry
    Gottfried John
    Gottfried John
    • Eric Kessler
    Alun Armstrong
    Alun Armstrong
    • Wyatt
    Michael Kitchen
    Michael Kitchen
    • Ian Havery
    Margo Martindale
    Margo Martindale
    • Ivy
    Mario Ernesto Sánchez
    Mario Ernesto Sánchez
    • Arturo Fernandez
    • (as Mario Ernesto Sanchez)
    Pietro Sibille
    • Juaco
    Vicky Hernández
    • Maria
    • (as Vicky Hernandez)
    Norma Martínez
    • Norma
    • (as Norma Martinez)
    Diego Trujillo
    Diego Trujillo
    • Eliodoro
    Aristóteles Picho
    • Sandro
    Sarahi Echeverria
    • Cinta
    • (as Sarahi Echeverría)
    • Director
      • Taylor Hackford
    • Writers
      • Tony Gilroy
      • William Prochnau(inspiration)
      • Thomas Hargrove(inspiration)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      During a break in filming at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire (where Russell Crowe's character watches his son play rugby union), one of the extras asked Russell Crowe for some acting advice. After their conversation, Crowe remembered the student's serious interest in acting and sent him autographed posters and photos from his film, Gladiator (2000), and wrote a letter saying, "A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step." The extra, Henry Cavill, went on to pursue his acting career and ultimately landed the role of Superman in Man of Steel (2013), with Crowe playing his father.
    • Goofs
      Even though the movie takes place in a fictional South American country, the Ecuadorian flag can be seen flying in many places.
    • Quotes

      Dino: [sarcastically] So basically we just call the army, schedule a battle. How would Wednesday around 3 be for you?

    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Proof of Life/Vertical Limit/The Emperor's New Groove/State and Main/Pollock/Dungeons and Dragons (2000)
    • Soundtracks
      Mala Suerte
      Written by Christian Valencia

    User reviews281

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    At it's heart it is a dramatic and enjoyable film - the padding is the problem
    Peter and Alice Bowman are working on a dam in South America in the employment of a large oil company. When Peter is kidnapped the company bring in expert negotiator Terry Thorne. However when the oil company runs out of money due to no insurance, they take Terry off the case and he leaves for another job. However a pang of conscience brings him back to help Alice and he replaces the corrupt locals. As he tries to help get her husband back he also falls for Alice.

    As a fan of David Caruso, I was annoyed that I missed this film at the cinema (I blinked and I missed it!) and by the time the video came out it had slipped my mind. Shown of tv last night was the perfect time for me to see it and, despite negative reviews, I actually quite enjoyed it. I think the problem is that the critics struggled to get past the handful of problems (more later) to find that the film was an effective, if talky, drama with a thriller edge. The premise is good and it allows tense scenes where Terry tough talks as well as scenes with Peter with his captors. It's not perfect in this regard as it is a bit talky but for me it was engaging - I got the impression from other comments that people had expected raging gun battles all the way through the film.

    However what does damage the film is Alice Bowman. I can see the potential behind Terry and Alice's romance - it could have been another layer of drama. In reality it doesn't work a bit and only serves to take away from the main thrust of the film - their relationship never convinces and nothing of interest is actually done with it. Likewise the character of Alice doesn't really work either - I never believed she was emotionally going through the wringers to the degree the script suggested she would be. A big part of the blame for this must lie with Meg Ryan herself. She is miscast in the first place, but on top of that she is too pristine throughout the film - hair and makeup perfect no matter what and a stupid little hippie-girl personality that stops her being a real person. It is a bad performance and the film would have benefited from a shorter running time which lost the romance subplot and scaled back on Ryan's time.

    However she is carried by a real star turn from Crowe. It may not be that clever a role but he does `tough' really well and he helps improve the tension of several scenes. Morse is a good actor and he does well here. The only downside of his performance is that he seemed fit and well outside of his makeup; I was looking for him to look thinner and mentally battered as the film progressed but he didn't - it's not his fault, I guess the film had no time to do this. Caruso gives the same tough performance he does in every thing he ever does so if you like that then you'll like him here - I do!

    Overall this is an enjoyable film if you can get past it's major problems surrounding Alice and Terry's relationship. Script-wise this aspect was weak on paper, but a comparatively rubbish turn from the miscast Meg Ryan just makes it all the weaker. Thank god that the basic premise is tense and the male leads' tough talking is good fun.
    helpful•69
    12
    • bob the moo
    • Apr 13, 2004

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 8, 2000 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Filmymen
      • Warner Bros. (US)
    • Languages
      • English
      • Spanish
      • Russian
      • Italian
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Bằng Chứng Sự Sống
    • Filming locations
      • Quito, Ecuador
    • Production companies
      • Castle Rock Entertainment
      • Bel Air Entertainment
      • Anvil Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $65,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $32,598,931
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $10,207,869
      • Dec 10, 2000
    • Gross worldwide
      • $62,761,005
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 15 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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