Review of Proof of Life

Introduction

Proof of Life is the latest vehicle for Gladiator star Russell Crowe. This time round he plays the part of Terry Thorne, a hostage retrieval expert who works for a firm who specialise in kidnap and rescue situations. He’s called in to negotiate the release of Peter Bowman(David Morse), an engineer who’s been kidnapped by a rebel army in a Latin American country. Peter’s wife, Alice Bowman (Meg Ryan), is desperate to see her husband freed is surprised when she starts growing close to the only person who can save him.

Inspired by an article which appeared in Vanity Fair it’s nice to see a movie that covers a more original subject than many others. It opens your eyes somewhat to an activity that you might have previously thought of as pure fiction.

Video

The anamorphic 2.35:1 picture is superbly sharp and detailed with rich colours. Being a recent cinema release it’s not that surprising that you get a transfer which is pretty much faultless.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack matches the picture quality perfectly. It’s a high quality sound mix with great use of all channels creating an engrossing atmosphere at all the right moments. The score, by Danny Elfman, suits the subject matter nicely and further adds to the atmosphere.

Features

The extras here comprise of a 15 minute “Making of” documentary and a feature length Director’s Commentary. I would have liked to see a longer “making of” documentary as what’s there is quite interesting but all too short. The commentary track, whilst interesting, would have benefited from some input from the actors but that could equally apply to most Director’s Commentaries.

Not bad but I wanted more.

Conclusion

After watching the movie I think I was more than a little unfair in calling it “the latest vehicle for Gladiator star Russell Crowe”. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and whilst Russell Crowe was the main star I was also very impressed by the performance of David Morse as the kidnapped Peter Bowman. There’s allot of emotion in his performance throughout and he does a great job of getting you to empathise with his situation. Russell Crowe is also on top form as Terry Thorne, the jaded ex-SAS soldier. He has some great scenes and delivers his dialogue with great precision and smoothness. He’s made quite a name for himself and you can see why.

One thing I have never understood is the whole Meg Ryan thing. I’ve never particularly rated her and whilst she does an acceptable job I can think of many other actresses that could have put far more feeling into the part. Also someone please take Meg Ryan out for a slap-up meal, she looks so thin it’s scary. She’s never been close to my idea of the perfect woman but she looks ill she’s so thin.

The story is interesting and involving. Rather than passing off yet another Rambo’esque character Terry Thorne is solely interested in retrieving Peter Bowman buy paying the ransom. Some ideas are presented with regards to the whole negotiation process that you wouldn’t have necessarily considered and this helps to keep things fresh.

There are a few weak points. I personally didn’t feel that there was any chemistry between Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe so that aspect of the story is largely wasted. Also there’s much more to Russell Crowe`s character (as is hinted at in the early parts of the movie) and it would have been nice to explore that a little more.

Overall I really enjoyed this movie. Along with the top quality presentation I would definitely recommend this release.