''Proof of Life'' is a 2000 American

action thriller film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed and produced by

Taylor Hackford Taylor Edwin Hackford (born December 31, 1944) is an American film director and former president of the Directors Guild of America. He won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for '' Teenage Father'' (1979). Hackford went on to dire ...

, and starring

Meg Ryan Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra (born November 19, 1961), known by her stage name Meg Ryan, is an American actress. Known for her leading roles as quirky, charismatic women since the late 1980s, Ryan is particularly recognized for her work in ...

and

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor and film director. Russell Crowe filmography, His work on screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Russell Crowe, various accolades, including an Academy Award, two Gold ...

. The title refers to a phrase commonly used to indicate proof that a

kidnap Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

victim is still alive. The film's screenplay was written by Tony Gilroy, who also was an executive producer, and was inspired by William Prochnau's '' Vanity Fair'' magazine article "Adventures in the Ransom Trade", and Thomas Hargrove's book ''Long March to Freedom'', in which Hargrove recounts how his release was negotiated by Thomas Clayton, who went on to be the founder of kidnap-for-ransom consultancy Clayton Consultants, Inc. ''Proof of Life'' was released in December 8, 2000, by

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film studio and distribution arm of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group division of Warner Bros., both of which are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex ...

. It received mixed reviews and underperformed at the box office, as it only grossed $62 million against a production budget of $65 million.

Plot

Alice Bowman moves to the (fictional)

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

n country of Tecala because her engineer husband, Peter Bowman, has been hired to help build a new

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

for

oil company The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest volume products o ...

Quad Carbon. While driving one morning through the city, Peter is caught in traffic and then ambushed and abducted by

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

rebels of the Liberation Army of Tecala (ELT). Believing that Peter is working on Quad Carbon's

oil pipeline A pipeline is a system of pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries around the world. The Un ...

, ELT soldiers lead him through the

jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

. Terry Thorne, a former member of the British

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

, arrives in Tecala fresh from a successful hostage rescue in

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

. As an expert negotiator in

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

-and-

ransom Ransom refers to the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release. It also refers to the sum of money paid by the other party to secure a captive's freedom. When ransom means "payment", the word ...

cases, he is assigned by his company, Luthan Risk, to bargain for Peter's safe return. Unfortunately, it is learned that Quad Carbon is on the verge of

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

and

takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are publicly listed, in contrast to the acquisi ...

, and therefore has no

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

coverage for kidnapping, so they cannot afford Thorne's services. Despite Alice's pleas to stay, Thorne leaves the country. Alice is then assigned a corrupt local hostage negotiator, who immediately urges her to pay the ELT's first ransom demand: a $50,000 "good faith" payment. Not knowing what to do, Alice agrees, but the transaction is stopped by Thorne who (due to his conscience) has returned to help. He is aided by Dino, a competing negotiator and ex–

Green Beret The green beret was the official headdress of the British Commandos, a special-forces unit active during World War II. It is still worn by members of the Royal Marines after passing the Commando Course, and personnel from other units of the Roy ...

. Over the next few months, Thorne uses a

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

to speak with an ELT contact, and the two argue over terms for Peter's release—including a

payment that Alice can afford. Thorne and Alice bond through the ordeal, and become intimate. They eventually negotiate a sum of $650,000. Meanwhile, Peter has become a prisoner at the ELT's jungle base camp. There, he befriends another hostage named Kessler—a missionary and former member of the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

—who has lived in the camp for nineteen months. The two plan and attempt to escape but are soon tracked by the ELT. As they travel through the jungle, Peter steps on a trap and is unable to continue. Encouraged by Peter to flee, Kessler leaves him behind and later hears a shot fired. Kessler is shot in the shoulder by rebels and falls off a cliff and into a river. Kessler is found and hospitalized. Thorne's ELT contact subsequently refuses to respond to his calls. Luckily, one of Alice's young maids recognizes his voice over the radio and reveals he is a government official. Thorne confronts the contact, who confirms that Peter is alive, but because of the ELT's escalating war with the government and Peter's knowledge of the terrain, the ELT will no longer negotiate. At Thorne's urging, Alice and Kessler convince the Tecala government that the ELT is mounting an attack on the pipeline being built through their territory. This forces the government army to mobilize, thus forcing a bulk of the camp's ELT troops to mobilize for a counter-attack. Thorne, Dino, and several associates are then inserted by helicopter and raid the weakened ELT base. They overcome the camp's soldiers, free Peter and another hostage, and then fly back to the city, where Alice happily reunites with her husband. Thorne and Alice share a final intimate moment before the latter departs with Peter on an immediate flight to the U.S..

Cast

as Alice Bowman *

as Terry Thorne * David Morse as Peter Bowman * Pamela Reed as Janis Goodman *

David Caruso David Stephen Caruso (born January 7, 1956) is a retired American actor and producer, best known for his roles as Detective John Kelly on the ABC crime drama ''NYPD Blue'' (1993–1994) and Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the CBS series '' CSI: ...

as Dino *

Anthony Heald Anthony Heald (born August 25, 1944) is an American character actor known for portraying Hannibal Lecter's jailer, Dr. Frederick Chilton, in '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991) and '' Red Dragon'' (2002), and for playing vice principal Scot ...

as Ted Fellner * Michael Byrne as Lord Luthan * Stanley Anderson as Jerry *

Gottfried John Gottfried John (; 29 August 1942 – 1 September 2014) was a German stage, screen, and voice actor. A longtime collaborator of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, John appeared in nine of his films between 1975 and 1981, the year before Fassbinder's d ...

as Eric Kessler *

Alun Armstrong Alan Armstrong (born 17 July 1946), known professionally as Alun Armstrong, is an English character actor. He grew up in County Durham in North East England, and first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his grammar ...

as Wyatt * Michael Kitchen as Ian Havery *

Margo Martindale Margo Martindale (born July 18, 1951) is an American character actress who has appeared on television, film, and stage. In 2011, she won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award for her recurring role as Mags Bennett on '' ...

as Ivy *

Mario Ernesto Sánchez Mario Ernesto Sánchez (10 January 1947 – 10 April 2025) was a Cuban actor who founded Teatro Avante, a Hispanic theatre, in 1979 in Florida. He played various bit parts on ''Miami Vice'' and in Hollywood movies, including ''Invasion U.S.A. (1 ...

as Arturo Fernandez * Pietro Sibille as Juaco *

Vicky Hernández Vicky Hernández is a Colombian movie, theater and TV actress born in Tuluá Tuluá (), is a city located in the heart of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. A major industrial and commercial center, it is the region's fourth-largest city after Cal ...

as Maria * Norma Martínez as Norma * Carlos Blanchard as Carlos * Rowena King as Pamela * Diego Trujillo as Eliodoro * Roberto Frisone as Calitri * Gerard Naprous as Pierre LeNoir * Merlin Hanbury-Tenison as Henry Thorne *

Aleksandr Baluev Aleksandr Nikolaevich Baluev (; born 6 December 1958) is a Soviet and Russian theatre and film actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and numerous stage productions since 1980. Life and career Aleksandr Baluev was born in Moscow, Russian ...

as Russian Colonel * Said K. Saralijen as Chechen Rebel Leader * Claudia Dammert as Ginger * Tony Vazquez as Dr. Frederico De Carnedas / Marco * Aristoteles Picho as Sandro * Sarahi Echeverria as Cinta * Raul Rodríguez as Tomas * Mauro Cueva as Rico * Alejandro Cordova as 'Rambo' * Sandro Bellido as Mono * Jaime Zevallos as Nino * Gilberto Torres as Raymo * Flora Martinez as Linda * Laura Escobar as Cara * Marco Bustos as Alex * Jorge Medina as Berto

Background

Although the producers wanted to film in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, due to the dangers that guerrillas posed in that country at the time, the movie was mainly filmed in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. Tecala's geographic and urban appearance and its political characteristics were based loosely on a mix of several

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

countries. The ELT's characterization appears to be primarily based on the

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in ...

(FARC). Coincidentally, Colombia's second largest guerrilla group is the Ejército de Liberación Nacional or ELN.

Control Risks Control Risks is a global risk and strategic consulting firm that specializes in political, security and integrity risk assessments. History Control Risks was formed in 1975, as a professional adviser to the insurance industry. A subsidiary of ...

, a risk consulting firm, was hired to provide security for the cast and crew while filming on location. The firm also provided contacts for character inspiration for the kidnap and ransom consulting seen in the film.

Inspiration

The movie's end credits post-script says: "Inspired by the VANITY FAIR article 'Adventures in the Ransom Trade' by William Prochnau and by the book ''Long March to Freedom'' by Thomas Hargrove, whom FARC kidnapped and held for ransom in 1994. Twenty-one years after the release of ''Proof of Life'', Thomas' son Miles would release his own documentary, '' Miracle Fishing'', based on camcorder footage he took when his family and friends were negotiating with FARC guerillas for Thomas' safe return.

Tecala

The Republic of Tecala, where most of ''Proof of Life'' is set, is a

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

n country. Tecala has long been the scene of an internal conflict between its government forces and the Liberation Army of Tecala (ELT). The ELT was originally a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

group supported by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, but after the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, the ELT's primary source of funding fell through, and they began

people for ransom to fund their operations. A map seen in the film is that of Ecuador. The country's capital

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

was chosen along with the eastern jungle and the nearby city of

Baños de Agua Santa Baños de Agua Santa (), commonly referred to as Baños, is a city in eastern Tungurahua Province of Ecuador. Baños is the second most populous city in Tungurahua, after the capital Ambato, and is a major tourist center. Baños is known as the ...

in the Ecuadorian

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

Release

The film opened in wide release in the United States on December 8, 2000, on 2,705 screens. The opening weekend gross was $10,207,869 and the total receipts for the U.S. run were $32,598,931. The international box-office receipts were $30,162,074, for total receipts of $62,761,005. The film was in wide release in the U.S. for twelve weeks (eighty days). In its widest release, the film was featured in 2,705 theaters across the country.

Soundtrack

The score was by Danny Elfman. Several songs were written by Christian Valencia. The song, " I'll Be Your Lover, Too," written and performed by

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

, plays over the closing credits. The soundtrack was released on

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and cast recording, original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as ...

Death during filming

The film is dedicated to Will Gaffney, David Morse's stand-in who was killed on-set when a truck he was in went over a cliff. Morse was away at the time because of a family illness.

Home media

The film was released on DVD on June 19, 2001.

Reception

Critical response

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

, film critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', did not think the film worked well and opined that the actors did not connect. He wrote, " he film displaysa gaping lack of emotional connection among the characters in a romantic triangle that feels conspicuously unromantic ... what ultimately sinks this stylish but heartless film is a flat lead performance by the eternally snippy Meg Ryan ... Ms. Ryan expresses no inner conflict, nor much of anything else beyond a mounting tension. Even when her wide blue eyes well up with tears, the pain she conveys is more the frustration of a little girl who has misplaced her doll than any deep, empathetic suffering." Critic

David Ansen David Ansen is an American film critic. He was a senior editor for ''Newsweek'', where he served as film critic from 1977 to 2008 and subsequently contribute to the magazine in a freelance capacity. Prior to writing for ''Newsweek'', he served a ...

gave the film a mixed review, writing,

Taylor Hackford's thriller ''Proof of Life'' leaves a lot to be desired, but it's got its hands on a fascinating subject ... To be fair, Tony Gilroy's screenplay keeps the romance on the back burner ... Thorne is the most compelling aspect of ''Proof of Life,'' thanks to Crowe's quiet, hard-bitten charisma. It's a part Bogart once would have played—the amoral tough guy who rises to the moral occasion—and Crowe gives it just the right note of gravel-voiced masculinity. But neither Crowe, Ryan nor the topical subject keeps ''Proof of Life'' from feeling recycled. For all the up-to-the-minute research, the movie still gives off the musty scent of Hollywood contrivance.

Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

gives the film an approval rating of 39% based on 117 reviews with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Despite its promising premise and superstar cast, ''Proof of Life'' is just a routine thriller that doesn't offer anything new."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

gave it a score of 45 out of 100 based on 29 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film a "B" on an A to F scale.

Awards

The film was nominated for four

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards The Blockbuster Entertainment Awards was a film awards ceremony, founded by Blockbuster Entertainment, Inc., that ran from 1995 until 2001, and ended with the decision to cancel the 2002 awards following concerns after the September 11 attacks. ...

; Favorite Actor – Suspense, Favorite Actress - Suspense, Favorite Supporting Actor – Suspense and Favorite Supporting Actress – Suspense.

Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his ...

was also nominated for a

Satellite Award The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

for Best Original Score at the 5th Golden Satellite Awards, but lost out to

Gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

(

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, five Grammy Awards, and has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards and a Tony ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Proof Of Life 2000 films 2000 action thriller films American action thriller films American films based on actual events American political thriller films Castle Rock Entertainment films Films about kidnapping Films based on newspaper and magazine articles Films based on multiple works Films based on non-fiction books Films set in Colombia

Films set in fictional countries Films shot in Ecuador Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films directed by Taylor Hackford Films scored by Danny Elfman Films with screenplays by Tony Gilroy Warner Bros. films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language action thriller films