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63
11th Hour, The
47
27 Dresses
29
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
39
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81
Bamako
84
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
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Bella
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Business of Being Born, The
69
Charlie Wilson's War
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Cloverfield
30
Cover
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Delirious
92
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43
Final Season, The
41
First Sunday
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Golden Compass, The
49
Good Night, The
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Great Debaters, The
63
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Hollywood Dreams
7
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60
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With
15
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81
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70
Lars and the Real Girl
47
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41
Mad Money
71
Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
xx
Moondance Alexander
53
Music Within
77
Nanking
44
Nina's Heavenly Delights
24
One Missed Call
74
Orphanage, The
30
Over Her Dead Body
39
P.S. I Love You
37
P2
46
Reservation Road
55
Resurrecting the Champ
57
Romulus, My Father
85
Savages, The
78
Starting Out in the Evening
83
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
57
Teeth
92
There Will Be Blood
38
Trailer Park Boys: The Movie
32
Untraceable
63
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
68
War Dance
71
Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, The
43
Youth Without Youth
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
92
There Will Be Blood
85
Savages, The
84
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
83
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
81
Juno
81
Bamako
78
Starting Out in the Evening
77
Nanking
74
Orphanage, The
71
Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, The
71
Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
70
Lars and the Real Girl
69
Charlie Wilson's War
68
Business of Being Born, The
68
Delirious
68
War Dance
65
Great Debaters, The
64
Cloverfield
63
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
63
11th Hour, The
63
Hannah Takes the Stairs
60
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With
57
Romulus, My Father
57
Teeth
55
Resurrecting the Champ
53
Music Within
52
Hollywood Dreams
51
Golden Compass, The
49
Good Night, The
47
Bella
47
Lions for Lambs
47
27 Dresses
46
Reservation Road
44
Nina's Heavenly Delights
43
Youth Without Youth
43
Final Season, The
41
Mad Money
41
First Sunday
39
Alvin and the Chipmunks
39
P.S. I Love You
38
Trailer Park Boys: The Movie
37
P2
32
Untraceable
30
Over Her Dead Body
30
Cover
29
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
24
One Missed Call
15
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
7
Hottie and the Nottie, The
xx
Moondance Alexander
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Proof of Life
Warner Bros.
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for violence, language and some drug material.
Starring
Meg Ryan,
Russell Crowe,
David Morse,
David Caruso,
Pamela Reed,
Anthony Heald,
Stanley Anderson,
and
Gottfried John
Peter Bowman (Morse), an American engineer in a Latin American country, is kidnapped for a $3 million dollar ransom. Abandoned by her husband's employer and insurance company, his wife Alice (Ryan) refuses to give up on his life. She takes on the task of bringing him home but quickly realizes she can't do that without help. An expert in "K & R" (Kidnap & Ransom), Terry Thorne (Crowe) is Alice's best and only hope for saving Peter. (Warner Bros.)
| GENRE(S): |
Suspense/Thriller
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Tony Gilroy
William Prochnau (article Adventures in the Ransom Trade)
Thomas Hargrove (book The Long March To Freedom)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Taylor Hackford
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: June 19, 2001
Video: June 3, 2003
Theatrical: December 8, 2000
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
135 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
75
Chicago Tribune
Marc Caro
The movie delivers on its own terms. It may emerge a bit bruised and tattered around the edges, but its ever-beating heart provides the ultimate Proof of Life.
75
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
Fortunately, this film doesn't have to depend on off-screen dalliances to prove its worth.
73
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
Proof of Life won't hold your heart hostage for very long after it's over, but here's looking at Russell Crowe -- he's the real deal, sweetheart.

63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
Whatever romantic tension the film has is communicated in the coiled-spring performance by Crowe, one of the most remarkable actors working.

63
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Disappointingly routine kidnapping thriller with soap-opera trimmings.

63
USA Today
Mike Clark
It's never enough of a grabber to keep the mind from wandering to the romance it apparently sparked.

63
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
The romantic subtext of their characters' relationship is the film's chief liability, and feels forced and undeveloped.

63
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
It's absorbing, although draggy.

63
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
I was interested all through the movie--interested, but not riveted. I cared, but not quite enough.

60
Chicago Reader
Lisa Alspector
Against the lush backdrop of the Andes, Crowe and Caruso define on-screen cool: good guys in a match of wits and firepower who even talk about their emotions.

60
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
His (Crowe) emotionally charged performance stands in contrast to Ryan's annoying, movie-star turn.

60
LA Weekly
Manohla Dargis
Exactly the sort of good bad movie that Hollywood does best -- it's big, worthless fun.

58
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
When it's dull, which it is too often for a kidnap caper, this movie is about a woman chirping ''notice anything new about my outfit?'' to a man whose idea of style is a jacket not crusted in human blood.

50
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
An ambitious film that aims to examine the human equations behind the abductions. But for all its good intentions, it's not as subtle as it might be, and it's finally pitched too broadly to achieve the level of emotional truth it aims for.

50
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
In Proof of Life it's the same old story, a fight for love and glory, except that time goes by . . . slowwwwly.

50
Slate
David Edelstein
Crowe gets to use his real Aussie voice, which works better with that poker face, and his underplaying at times has a psychotic intensity. But Ryan looks dopey when she's supposed to be stressed-out.

50
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
Morse and Caruso provide better reasons to see this film than do Ryan and Crowe.

50
Newsweek
David Ansen
This slick, handsomely produced thriller only gets the pulse half racing.
50
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
What ultimately sinks this stylish but heartless film is a flat lead performance by the eternally snippy Meg Ryan.

50
Salon.com
Michael Sragow
Everything about Proof of Life is intriguing and a little off.

40
Film.com
Peter Brunette
Flat and thoroughly predictable piece of filmmaking.

40
Variety
Todd McCarthy
A disappointingly routine thriller that prefers to lean on tired Hollywood conventions rather than to explore fresh dramatic and stylistic territory.

40
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Slim pickings.
40
Film.com
Gemma Files
This is half a good movie held hostage to the other, trashier half, and unfortunately for all of us, no rescue seems forthcoming.

30
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
It's Rambo with a split hero -- Morse absorbing punishment and Crowe wreaking vengeance.

25
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
A hostage drama without any tension. It is a love story without any heat. It is as curiously empty a movie as we've seen all year.

25
San Francisco Chronicle
Bob Graham
A hostage drama that oscillates between soap opera and action flick.

20
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Proof of Life isn't a movie. It's an overpriced scrapbook.

20
Dallas Observer
Robert Wilonsky
Proof of Life kidnaps the audience, then tortures it to a slow death


The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
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