good films are hard to find these days .
great films are beyond rare .
proof of life , russell crowe’s one-two punch of a deft kidnap and rescue thriller , is one of those rare gems .
a taut drama laced with strong and subtle acting , an intelligent script , and masterful directing , together it delivers something virtually unheard of in the film industry these days , genuine motivation in a story that rings true .
consider the strange coincidence of russell crowe’s character in proof of life making the moves on a distraught wife played by meg ryan’s character in the film — all while the real russell crowe was hitching up with married woman meg ryan in the outside world .
i haven’t seen this much chemistry between actors since mcqueen and mcgraw teamed up in peckinpah’s masterpiece , the getaway .
but enough with the gossip , let’s get to the review .
the film revolves around the kidnapping of peter bowman ( david morse ) , an american engineer working in south america who is kidnapped during a mass ambush of civilians by anti-government soldiers .
upon discovering his identity , the rebel soldiers decide to ransom him for $6 million .
the only problem is that the company peter bowman works for is being auctioned off , and no one will step forward with the money .
with no choice available to her , bowman’s wife alice ( ryan ) hires terry thorne ( crowe ) , a highly skilled negotiator and rescue operative , to arrange the return of her husband .
but when things go wrong — as they always do in these situations — terry and his team ( which includes the most surprising casting choice of the year : david caruso ) take matters into their own hands .
the film is notable in that it takes this very simple story line and creates a complex and intelligent character-driven vehicle filled with well-written dialogue , shades of motivation , and convincing acting by all the actors .
the script is based on both a book ( the long march to freedom ) and a magazine article pertaining to kidnap/ransom situations , and the story has been sharply pieced together by tony gilroy , screenwriter of the devil’s advocate and dolores claiborne .
the biggest surprise for me was not the chemistry between crowe and ryan , but that between crowe and david caruso .
dug out from b-movie hell , caruso pulls off a gutsy performance as crowe’s right hand gun while providing most of the film’s humor .
ryan cries a lot and smokes too many cigarettes , david morse ends up getting everyone at the guerilla camp to hate him , and crowe provides another memorable acting turn as the stoic , gunslinger character of terry thorne .
the most memorable pieces of the film lie in its action scenes .
the bulk of those scenes , which bookend the movie , work extremely well as establishment and closure devices for all of the story’s characters .
the scenes are skillfully crafted and executed with amazing accuracy and poise .
director taylor hackford mixes both his old-school style of filmmaking with the dizziness of a lars von trier film .
proof of life is a thinking man’s action movie .
it is a film about the choices men and women make in the face of love and war , and the sacrifices one makes for those choices — the sacrifices that help you sleep at night .