Proof of Life

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Proof of Life ★★½ 2000 (R)

When Alicia's (Ryan) engineer husband (Morse) is kidnapped by antigovernment guerrillas in South America, she hires professional negotiator Terry Thorne (Crowe) to get him back. Complications arise when Terry falls for the wife. Complications also arose when Ryan fell for Crowe and her marriage to Dennis Quaid fell apart. Crowe and Ryan subsequently broke up just in time for the marketing push, leaving director Hackford without his two biggest stars to promote the film. Despite the offscreen heat, the movie's a lot better when dealing with the husband's predicament and the rescue operations than when exploring Ryan's angst and the budding romance. 135m/C VHS, DVD . Russell Crowe, Meg Ryan, David Morse, David Caruso, Pamela Reed, Anthony Heald, Stanley Anderson, Gottfried John, Alun Armstrong, Michael Kitchen, Margo Martindale, Mario Ernesto Sanchez, Pietro Sibille, Vicky Hernandez, Norma Martinez, Diego Trujillo; D: Taylor Hackford; W: Tony Gilroy; C: Slawomir Idziak; M: Danny Elfman.