Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Borserie it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Spikeopath Russell Crowe would of course come to be better known elsewhere (filmicly) in this year, but what of his other release in 2000? Proof of Life is a blender, a picture that is in part thriller, part romance, part drama and part observation on a very real life problem - that of kidnapping for ransom. So many genres to tackle means that invariably Taylor Hackford's film feels over stuffed, pushing the running time to two hours and fifteen minutes, it is this that hurts it. A shame because if trimmed of the pointless filler and drawn out sequences then there is a very efficient (ok, maybe routine is a better word here) and well acted piece on show. The drama and tension (sexual and perilous threat) is all building towards the action packed finale, which, while well mounted, doesn't seem an adequate pay off for the number of extended chatty scenes we have had to tolerate to get there. Nice tip of the hat to a classic at the end, though. 6/10

TweetyonIMDB I was pleasantly surprised with this film. I wasn't expecting much based on the IMDb rating but I love Russell Crowe so thought I'd give it a run. I was also interested to watch it as it is the film that initiated the affair between Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe. Meg Ryan plays the role of the distraught wife well. The film illustrates the disparity between the lives of the poor in South America and the wealthy westerners - and the perils of venturing into such hostile lands.I found the movie engaging throughout. I dislike all the gratuitous violence in movies these days and I found this did not have too much violence, nor too much mush. It wasn't too wordy either, so you could pop out to the kitchen to get a quick drink and come back and pick up again. And it had a nice, happy ending, which I also like. A good Saturday night flick.

inspectors71 Taylor Hackford's Proof of Life is a hopelessly uneven, dull- as-dishwater, slap-dash chunk of topical hokum to begin with. I don't know which character I cared about the least, except a pre-CSI David Caruso, showing some sort of talent for acting(?). Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe are stolidly unpleasant. One can only hope they were more interesting for and to each other when they had their fling in real life. On screen, they're wholly unappetizing. Once again, the benefit of watching this gunk on the Sunday afternoon movie is that you don't have to pay for it. You'd be better off puttering about in your garage.

teriog_4 This is a terrific movie, and I'm not the only one who thinks so and as such is well under-rated. It manages to combine a great storyline full of action and suspense with a love interest as well. The romantic aspect is of course really subtle, and all the more compelling because of this, and doesn't get in the way of the action.Crowe is just brilliant, and totally believable, as the kidnapping and ransom specialist Terry Thorne who is called in to rescue Peter Bowman, the husband of Alice played by Meg Ryan. Meg Ryan I think plays her part quite well, but it's hard to see what Russell Crowe's character saw in her romantically.The location and all the supporting character performances also have a real air of authenticity about them.