Very well executed

Very disappointed :(

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I really liked this, not without it's faults but a good story and I enjoyed the entire cast, the location, the action scenes and watching (a surprisingly hunky) Russell Crowe struggle with unrequited love for another mans wife. He plays an Australian and keeps his accent, which I'm not sure he's used recently, very nice.Meg Ryan,(keeping fantastic hair throughout) plays the wife of an engineer -the always good David Morse who is working in south America. When he's kidnapped by terrorists, she retains the services of hostage negotiator Terry Thorne (Russell Crowe) and the two (sort of) fall for each other.I liked how the story kept flipping back and forth between 'Alice' and her negotiating ransom demands to free her husband and the hell 'Peter' is going through via a dated timeline after being kidnapped by South American rebels. David Caruso was a surprise here too, I actually enjoyed his character- never been able to say that before.The final action scene/rescue is excellent, as is that smouldering goodbye kiss Crowe lays on Ryan. Sigh. 3/14/14

I just wanted to add something that I think it's missing from all the comments here: This kind of approach to South America and its recent history is insulting and biased. 1. The pro-left rebels in the mountains are portrayed as comic stereotypes: dirty, illiterate, terrorist. 2. Nothing in the movie even hints the BIGGEST problem, which is the constant involvement of the US in South American and Central American internal affairs and the exploitation of the South American resources by the West. 3. The white characters are so f***** pure and one-sided that it made me want to puke.The kidnapped man is a damn builder who wants to "help the people".The wife and the sister are down-to-earth strong American women. The rescuers are funny and charming and have a noble agenda.Whereas everything about the South American country is mercantile and primitive. No s***, Sherlock.Western directors should do some research and soul searching before working with such background stories. This is the real history and drama of a whole continent, not some childish Star Wars story.As for movie itself, I enjoyed it somewhat because of some good actors. Morse is great, Caruso tackles the type of supporting role that we are usually used to see Bill Paxton in, and Crowe is OK in his tough guy military role. The only problem with the acting is Meg Ryan, who's not only miscast but really does an awful job here. Really terrible, as always, actually.

Plot: A kidnap & ransom specialist falls in love with the wife of the man he is supposed to be rescuingAt 135 minutes in length, this "thriller" simply doesn't thrill; it should have been no longer than 100 minutes. The narrative is flabby and the story ponderous; the love affair between the two leads is tepid, with little spark between the lovers (despite the two actors actually having an affair at the time); and the depiction of the American characters as boorish and self-obsessed is either a cutting indictment of them (Ugly American style) or a reflection on the same qualities existing in the film's creators. Even the end, which rejects the traditional Hollywood happy ending, is over-blown and bombastic; turning a brief reflective look into a meaning-filled, half a minute long piece of soul searching. The solitary redeeming feature is the climactic battle, which rejects the excess and angst of the rest of the film in favour of a super-lean and intelligent rescue mission. It's brilliant but it isn't worth slogging through the film to get to it. Better to just watch it on YouTube.

The Proof of life is a fascinating movie, directed by Taylor Hackford in 2000. It's an action film set in a city of South America. The cast is Meg Ryan, Russel Crowe and David Morse. The story is about engineer Peter Bowman, married with Alice. They haven't lived well, since the death of their daughter. They live in a city in South America e he works for Oil Company, when he is kidnapped by guerrilla fighters. The company contracts the man, Terry Thorne, who will negotiate the life of her husband. During the film, they fall in love, but he does everything to save the engineer. Meg Ryan is weak in this movie, perhaps because she got accustomed doing comedy films. She keeps hippie appearance in all movies that I've seen. The time to change the aspect has already came.Russel Crowe incarnated a negotiator and in scenes at jungle, he and the character of the David Caruso were very well. David Morse transformed his appearance in accordance with the duration of his kidnapping and his suffering. He does these changes very well. The movie is tense and it makes us think about the life's value. How much does life cost? It will change the way that you see the value of life I recommend it.