good films are hard to find these days . great films are beyond rare . proof of life , russell crowe's one-two punch of a deft kidnap and rescue thriller , is one of those rare gems . a taut drama laced with strong and subtle acting , an intelligent script , and masterful directing , together it delivers something virtually unheard of in the film industry these days , genuine motivation in a story that rings true . consider the strange coincidence of russell crowe's character in proof of life making the moves on a distraught wife played by meg ryan's character in the film -- all while the real russell crowe was hitching up with married woman meg ryan in the outside world . i haven't seen this much chemistry between actors since mcqueen and mcgraw teamed up in peckinpah's masterpiece , the getaway . but enough with the gossip , let's get to the review . the film revolves around the kidnapping of peter bowman ( david morse ) , an american engineer working in south america who is kidnapped during a mass ambush of civilians by anti-government soldiers . upon discovering his identity , the rebel soldiers decide to ransom him for $6 million . the only problem is that the company peter bowman works for is being auctioned off , and no one will step forward with the money . with no choice available to her , bowman's wife alice ( ryan ) hires terry thorne ( crowe ) , a highly skilled negotiator and rescue operative , to arrange the return of her husband . but when things go wrong -- as they always do in these situations -- terry and his team ( which includes the most surprising casting choice of the year : david caruso ) take matters into their own hands . the film is notable in that it takes this very simple story line and creates a complex and intelligent character-driven vehicle filled with well-written dialogue , shades of motivation , and convincing acting by all the actors . the script is based on both a book ( the long march to freedom ) and a magazine article pertaining to kidnap/ransom situations , and the story has been sharply pieced together by tony gilroy , screenwriter of the devil's advocate and dolores claiborne . the biggest surprise for me was not the chemistry between crowe and ryan , but that between crowe and david caruso . dug out from b-movie hell , caruso pulls off a gutsy performance as crowe's right hand gun while providing most of the film's humor . ryan cries a lot and smokes too many cigarettes , david morse ends up getting everyone at the guerilla camp to hate him , and crowe provides another memorable acting turn as the stoic , gunslinger character of terry thorne . the most memorable pieces of the film lie in its action scenes . the bulk of those scenes , which bookend the movie , work extremely well as establishment and closure devices for all of the story's characters . the scenes are skillfully crafted and executed with amazing accuracy and poise . director taylor hackford mixes both his old-school style of filmmaking with the dizziness of a lars von trier film . proof of life is a thinking man's action movie . it is a film about the choices men and women make in the face of love and war , and the sacrifices one makes for those choices -- the sacrifices that help you sleep at night .
