Proof of Life

Way too much has been written about this film -- affair between its stars, difficulty of shooting in the Andes, freak accident killing a stand-in for one of the principal characters. Now I understand why everyone focused on these points. There wasn't much else to write about. It's a noble effort -- Taylor Hackford (of the unbeatable biopic Ray) used a magazine article as inspiration for a tale of the kidnapping of a (supposed) influential U.S. citizen at work building a dam in South America. The article described how insurance companies (so, in this case, the company that insures the corporation building the dam) use negotiators to buy back these citizens. You have the citizen, David Morse, a less well-known actor whom I've always enjoyed (particularly in Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark). You have the citizen's wife, Meg Ryan, doing her best not to fall into her standard comedic personality. Unfortunately, it shows. And you have Russell Crowe, without whom the film would have stunk unbearably. Oh, and don't forget David Caruso, who enters the picture normally enough but exits in one of the strangest turns I've ever seen an actor make. It left me wincing. No wonder he's done nothing of note since leaving NYPD Blue. For the plot itself, you know what's going to happen, so the film is simply biding its time getting to "the good bit." And that bit is decent, but not enough for a recommendation. You're better off renting Speed again.

year: 2000
length: 135 min.
rating: 2.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0228750/combined