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Proof of Life, directed by Taylor Hackford
Meg Ryan plays Peter's wife, who comes to trust Terry's ability to negotiate for the life of her husband. When the company pulls out of the rescue effort, Terry returns to help her out, on his own dime, we presume, and for reasons other than the altruistic love of justice. The unrealized undercurrent of romance that runs through their relationship is in part what keeps this movie interestingly tense and exciting to watch. Ryan and Crowe are both good actors, though Ryan is definitely miscast as a hippie-type wife who was never quite into the multinational gig to begin with (and so, one wonders, how did she end up married to that guy?)
This is a serious movie, a good action and suspense film, and a film that features some fine acting. It also raises some interesting and important political and ethical questions, and tries to keep several narrative threads going at once, quite successfully. If you are looking for a more sober alternative to the saccharine or comic holiday movies, go see Proof of Life. Looking for trouble at the movies, for KUSP and the film gang, this is Carla Freccero. Copyright Carla Freccero 2000 |
Now
playing at the Crossroads, Lighthouse, 41st Avenue, Green Valley, the Riverfront,
and Scotts Valley, Proof of Life is the latest film directed by Taylor
Hackford,
who also did Devil's Advocate, Dolores Claiborne, and Officer and a Gentleman.
This movie is based on an article in Vanity Fair by William Prochnau and
so, we presume, itís loosely adapted from a factual account of the
business of K and R, or Kidnap and Ransom. Apparently, certain companies
that work in terrorist infested areas and have wealthy CEOs obtain K and
R insurance, which provides them with funds in the event of a kidnap and
ransom request. In this story, there is correspondingly a small group
of ex-military guys "mostly special ops" who specialize in the negotiation
process, retrieving the kidnapped CEO and doling out as little of the funds
as possible.
Hackford's
other films have all featured really fine and top billed male actors such
as Richard Gere and Al Pacino, so itís a testimony to Russell Croweís
rapid rise to stardom that he is the leading man of the story, a taciturn
type by the name of Terry Thorne. Terry comes in to orchestrate
the negotiation for Peter Bowman (played by David Morse), an engineer building
a dam in an unidentified Central or South American country that we come
to realize is Peru (the movie was actually shot in Ecuador), because its
terrorists, Marxist revolutionaries who survive through the sale of cocaine,
resemble Sendero Luminoso, or The Shining Path. Peter loudly protests
his non-relation to the pipeline company that finances the dam and threatens
to undermine the economy of the country in question, not to mention its
coca crop. So part of the plot details the gradual coming-to-consciousness
of overly naïve well-meaning liberal crusaders "Peter keeps insisting
that the dam will help the people of the country" and the corruption and
greed of American multinationals.
The
movie is ideologically contradictory, and this is both what makes it a
serious film and also what leaves one somewhat unsatisfied. Unlike
some of the blatantly xenophobic action films coming from Hollywood, this
one does not automatically presume that brownskinned terrorists in Central
and South American countries have a disregard for human life and spout
meaningless rhetoric while being just as greedy and unscrupulous as the
rest of the world. The organization in question is realistically
portrayed, with young idealists, disciplined comrades, and a justifiable
cause. There are the humane among them as well as the irrational
and dangerous. All in all, they treat Peter pretty well.
But when it comes time for the heroes to prevail, well, so much for humane
treatment, and the revolutionaries get immediately demoted to the ranks
of disposable bad guys. In the end, anti-corporate sentiment does
not become a kinder gentler way of dealing with the third world.