Twenty-five years after its controversial debut, the Russell Crowe/Meg Ryan romantic thriller Proof of Life deserves reappraisal. It took a few years, but Crowe finally secured his A-list status due to the mᴀssive success of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator in 2000. He received Oscar nominations for Gladiator and The Insider, so naturally, all eyes were on his follow-up project, Proof of Life. This Russell Crowe movie casts the actor as a former SAS soldier tasked with helping a woman named Alice (Meg Ryan) recover her husband, who is being held for ransom by guerrillas in a South American country.
Proof of Life blends several genres, being a romantic drama, a kidnapping thriller and an action movie all at once. Warner Bros clearly had high hopes for the film, which was set for release in Christmas 2000. However, the movie was soon overshadowed when it was revealed Crowe and Ryan had begun an affair during production while Ryan was still married to actor Dennis Quaid. Proof of Life would later bomb at the box office, pulling in a few million less than its $65 million budget (via The Numbers).
Proof Of Life Is Far Better Than Its 39% RT Score Suggests
Removed from all its scandals, Proof of Life is a solid thriller
Naturally, all the conversation leading up to Proof of Life’s release involved the Ryan/Crowe affair, and after it underperformed, the blame was laid on them. Reviews weren’t much kinder, with the film currently standing at 39% on Rotten Tomatoes. Now that the controversy surrounding its leads has receded into the background, what’s left is an absorbing thriller that features some pretty electric chemistry between its leads. The film is split between Terry (Crowe) and Alice (Ryan) negotiating for Peter’s (David Morse) release and the latter’s extended kidnapping order, with the two stories finally converging in an explosive rescue sequence.
The film was primarily filmed in Ecuador, with the country’s landscape and texture adding enormously to the story. The simmering romantic tension between Terry and Alice is a key part of Proof of Life, but the kidnap story is just as gripping – if not more so – as the negotiation side. Years after his very public exit from NYPD Blue and subsequent failed attempt at becoming a movie star, the film also gave David Caruso one of his best roles as Terry’s fellow negotiator, Dino.
Proof of Life is an all too rare example of a big-budget thriller aimed at adults that trusts audiences will have the patience to wait for the explosive finale…
Caruso tends to steal every scene he’s in, and the attention he received undoubtedly aided his casting as Horatio Caine in CSI: Miami a couple of years later. Proof of Life is baggy in the middle, but it’s an all too rare example of a big-budget thriller aimed at adults that trust audiences will have the patience to wait for the explosive finale. This extraction sequence proves worth the wait too, with Terry and Dino sneaking into a rebel camp before being forced to shoot their way out.
Proof Of Life’s Director Blamed The Film’s Failure On Russell Crowe & Meg Ryan
Taylor Hackford laid his movie’s performance squarely at the feet of his leads
Crowe and Ryan’s relationship ended before the film’s U.S. release, leaving only Crowe and director Taylor Hackford to promote Proof of Life for its UK debut in February 2001; by this point, the film had already bombed in America. When asked by the press, Hackford was blunt about Ryan and Crowe’s romance and the effect it had on his film, with the director stating, “It had an indelible and very destructive effect on the release of the film in the US, because the real life story overpowered the film.” (via The Guardian).
While filming a school scene where Russell Crowe’s character speaks with his son, a 16-year-old extra approached the star to talk about making a career as an actor. Crowe later sent this extra some signed posters with a message reading, “A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step.” That young man was Henry Cavill, who co-starred with Crowe in Man of Steel over 13 years later.
Hackford also suggested he and Crowe weren’t on great terms, calling his leading man “a very difficult and thorny individual, who asks a lot and gives a lot.” Nobody has ever accused Crowe of being meek or biting his tongue, so when Hackford’s comments were relayed to him, the star clapped back with, “What a f****** idiot. That’s what he said? What a k***.” Crowe also believed Warner Bros simply put Proof of Life out at the wrong time of year, quipping, “I wouldn’t see a hostage film at Christmas.”
Needless to say, Crowe and Hackford haven’t collaborated since. Crowe quickly recovered from the film’s failure, following it up with A Beautiful Mind and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Unfortunately, the scandal surrounding Ryan’s affair appeared to impact her career negatively, with many of her follow-ups, like In The Cut, flopping before she essentially took a step back from the business during the mid-2000s.
David Morse Deserved Awards Respect For His Proof Of Life Performance
Veteran character actor Morse does incredible work in Proof of Life
The hubbub about the Crowe/Ryan affair also overshadowed the work of David Morse, who delivers a heartwrenching turn as Peter. Audiences get to see Peter, an American engineer working on an oil pipeline, slowly deteriorating physically during his months-long captivity. During filming, Morse also lost a lot of weight to chart his character’s ordeal before the production ordered him to stop out of fear for his health. Besides Morse’s physical transformation, Peter’s story is the movie’s most gripping.
Peter gets the most rounded arc in Proof of Life. Despite all the trauma and stress he endures, he never loses faith that he will see his wife again. The final scene, where Peter is reunited with Alice and drives away, works on two levels: There’s joy for Peter and Alice, who are finally ruined, but sadness for Crowe’s Terry, as his feelings for Alice will always go unrecognized.
It’s a credit to Morse’s work that viewers don’t, for one instance, feel that Alice should leave Peter for Terry instead. Morse’s performance is so strong it’s a genuine shame he wasn’t given any awards recognition at all, though many critics highlighted his work.
Proof Of Life Is Ripe For A Remake
The premise could work just as well today
Viewers coming to Proof of Life twenty-five years on might wonder why such a solid thriller with a great cast bombed and essentially disappeared in the aftermath. The film has grown a fanbase over the years (especially on The Rewatchables podcast), but it’s relatively obscure now. This makes Proof of Life ripe for a reboot, as it would be easy to take the premise and produce a new movie or miniseries from it. Its mix of drama, forbidden romance, and action hits most of the major demographics, and while the original is a good movie, there’s still room for improvement.
It could be argued the story would work even better as a six or eight episode show, with time to explore Terry and Alice’s growing romance and Peter’s time as a hostage, and the rescue itself could be the season finale. It might be Proof of Life’s destiny to be half-remembered as that film where Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe had an affair – but it deserves more consideration than that.
Source: The Numbers, Rotten Tomatoes, The Guardian, The Rewatchables
