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Proof of Life
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
"Proof Of Life" was one of the bigger films set to come out during the Christmas season of 2000. The film's release though, was overshadowed by a romance between stars Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe. As if that was not bad enough, director Taylor Hackford blamed the romance for the film's failure at the box office, touching off a bit of a verbal fight between Crowe and Hackford.
So...anyways, how is the film? Aside from some problems and slight flaws, it is apparent that Hackford is still a director who seeks material that is, whatever genre he chooses, is generally average to above-average in the elements of character development, script and story. The film starts off with an action sequence that instantly got me into the film; we're introduced to Terry Thorne(Russell Crowe), who is attempting to get a hostage back - but things don't go as planned, and he barely makes it out. Afterwards, we find out more details - he's working for a company that specializes in such kidnap and ransom rescues.
Elsewhere, American citizen Peter Burman (David Morse) has been kidnapped by a guerrilla force. Terry is called in to sort things out. The film then skips back and forth between scenes of Peter in captivity and Terry (as well as Peter's wife Alice, played by Meg Ryan) attempting to figure out a way to get hiim back. The only problem is that Terry and Alice have begun to fall for one another. Meanwhile, Terry runs into an old associate named Dino (David Caruso). That's an example of why "Proof" doesn't work quite as well as it could. The film is able to generate an impressive amount of tension in scenes like the opening and the occasional scene elsewhere, but there are stretches in-between that would best be described as "dragging". Hackford's films have gone a little long in the past, and "Proof" does, as well. At 132 minutes, the picture has moments where I felt as if the film wasn't getting to the point fast enough.
Possibly, this is because the film isn't streamlined enough. Too many subplots and changes in direction between being an action film and a romantic drama begin to occur at times. The addition of Burman's sister Alice (Pamela Reed, stuck with an irritating character) also doesn't particularly help things out. The love story between Crowe and Ryan's characters should have been left on the cutting room floor, not because of the incidents between the two in real life, but because it doesn't really fit in with the proceedings very well, nor do the two have much chemistry with one another - on screen, that is. Apparently, it was a different story in real life.
Both leads turn in good performances, although Crowe brings an intensity to the role that Ryan doesn't quite manage to bring with her character. Morse, on the other hand, is truly impressive as the hostage. It's a very powerful performance that should have gotten at least some awards notice, although I found that the character's arguing with the group while a hostage to be a little unbelivable. Also, listen for Danny Elfman's terrific score, and look for Slavomir Idziak's amazing cinematography.
The DVD
VIDEO: Although watching at home will never equal watching a film on a giant screen, I'm convinced that general image quality of DVDs are getting closer and closer to perfection. Warner Brothers has become better and better in regards to image quality, and "Proof Of Life" gets an absolutely terrific 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer that, with the exception of a few very minor concerns, looks incredibly film-like. Sharpness and detail are nothing short of terrific, and depth to the image is impressive in the majority of scenes.
The only flaw, and it's not a very necessary one in the first place, is the presence of some minor edge enhancement in a handful of scenes. I don't see why this had to appear, but it didn't really cause much distraction. Pixelation and print flaws are both completely absent from the image - I didn't even see any minor speckles.
Colors often looked stunning. Colors remain bright, sharp and well-saturated. The film's scenery is absolutely gorgeous and the deep, rich greens of the surrounding forests often looked wonderful. It also helps that cinematographer Slavomir Idziak contributes absolutely phenomenal work here. If you're familiar with "Gattaca" or Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Blue", then you've seen his work. Except for some minor concerns, "Proof" looks excellent.
SOUND: "Proof Of Life" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and the soundtrack presents a consistently engaging, if not heavily agressive sound experience. There are quite a few action sequences during the film, and during these moments, the listening space opens up more than adequately to place the viewer into the middle of the scene. Surrounds are used heavily during these sequences. Surrounds are not completely out of the picture otherwise, though. Ambient sounds are generally well used to convince the viewer of being in the middle of the outdoor environments.
Audio quality remained excellent throughout. Danny Elfman's tense and suspenseful score remained clear and crisp throughout. Sound effects and dialogue also remained clear and easily heard. "Proof"'s audio delivered very well when needed.
MENUS:: "Proof" has an animated main menu with score in the background.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: Although I'm thrilled that director Taylor Hackford has been a big fan of the format and has done quite a few commentary tracks at this point, I was hoping that he would have more to say here. Like the rest of the tracks that the director has recorded, this could best be called a "narration" rather than a commentary. The director talks about what's happening in the scene most of the time but, every so often, he offers an interesting bit of information about working with the two stars and the production in general. For those who are fans of the movie looking to hear more about the production, it may be worth a listen, but it may be slow going for others who aren't as interested.
Also: The disc also offers a promotional 14 minute "HBO Making Of" documentary about the production and the film's theatrical trailer. (Dolby 2.0).
Final Thoughts: Flaws and news stories about the leads aside, "Proof" remains an entertaining, involving and enjoyable thriller/drama with great performances from the leads. Warner's DVD provides an exceptionally good presentation of the top-notch cinematography and also offers both fine sound and extras. Recommended.
"Proof Of Life" was one of the bigger films set to come out during the Christmas season of 2000. The film's release though, was overshadowed by a romance between stars Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe. As if that was not bad enough, director Taylor Hackford blamed the romance for the film's failure at the box office, touching off a bit of a verbal fight between Crowe and Hackford.
So...anyways, how is the film? Aside from some problems and slight flaws, it is apparent that Hackford is still a director who seeks material that is, whatever genre he chooses, is generally average to above-average in the elements of character development, script and story. The film starts off with an action sequence that instantly got me into the film; we're introduced to Terry Thorne(Russell Crowe), who is attempting to get a hostage back - but things don't go as planned, and he barely makes it out. Afterwards, we find out more details - he's working for a company that specializes in such kidnap and ransom rescues.
Elsewhere, American citizen Peter Burman (David Morse) has been kidnapped by a guerrilla force. Terry is called in to sort things out. The film then skips back and forth between scenes of Peter in captivity and Terry (as well as Peter's wife Alice, played by Meg Ryan) attempting to figure out a way to get hiim back. The only problem is that Terry and Alice have begun to fall for one another. Meanwhile, Terry runs into an old associate named Dino (David Caruso). That's an example of why "Proof" doesn't work quite as well as it could. The film is able to generate an impressive amount of tension in scenes like the opening and the occasional scene elsewhere, but there are stretches in-between that would best be described as "dragging". Hackford's films have gone a little long in the past, and "Proof" does, as well. At 132 minutes, the picture has moments where I felt as if the film wasn't getting to the point fast enough.
Possibly, this is because the film isn't streamlined enough. Too many subplots and changes in direction between being an action film and a romantic drama begin to occur at times. The addition of Burman's sister Alice (Pamela Reed, stuck with an irritating character) also doesn't particularly help things out. The love story between Crowe and Ryan's characters should have been left on the cutting room floor, not because of the incidents between the two in real life, but because it doesn't really fit in with the proceedings very well, nor do the two have much chemistry with one another - on screen, that is. Apparently, it was a different story in real life.
Both leads turn in good performances, although Crowe brings an intensity to the role that Ryan doesn't quite manage to bring with her character. Morse, on the other hand, is truly impressive as the hostage. It's a very powerful performance that should have gotten at least some awards notice, although I found that the character's arguing with the group while a hostage to be a little unbelivable. Also, listen for Danny Elfman's terrific score, and look for Slavomir Idziak's amazing cinematography.
The DVD
VIDEO: Although watching at home will never equal watching a film on a giant screen, I'm convinced that general image quality of DVDs are getting closer and closer to perfection. Warner Brothers has become better and better in regards to image quality, and "Proof Of Life" gets an absolutely terrific 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer that, with the exception of a few very minor concerns, looks incredibly film-like. Sharpness and detail are nothing short of terrific, and depth to the image is impressive in the majority of scenes.
The only flaw, and it's not a very necessary one in the first place, is the presence of some minor edge enhancement in a handful of scenes. I don't see why this had to appear, but it didn't really cause much distraction. Pixelation and print flaws are both completely absent from the image - I didn't even see any minor speckles.
Colors often looked stunning. Colors remain bright, sharp and well-saturated. The film's scenery is absolutely gorgeous and the deep, rich greens of the surrounding forests often looked wonderful. It also helps that cinematographer Slavomir Idziak contributes absolutely phenomenal work here. If you're familiar with "Gattaca" or Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Blue", then you've seen his work. Except for some minor concerns, "Proof" looks excellent.
SOUND: "Proof Of Life" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and the soundtrack presents a consistently engaging, if not heavily agressive sound experience. There are quite a few action sequences during the film, and during these moments, the listening space opens up more than adequately to place the viewer into the middle of the scene. Surrounds are used heavily during these sequences. Surrounds are not completely out of the picture otherwise, though. Ambient sounds are generally well used to convince the viewer of being in the middle of the outdoor environments.
Audio quality remained excellent throughout. Danny Elfman's tense and suspenseful score remained clear and crisp throughout. Sound effects and dialogue also remained clear and easily heard. "Proof"'s audio delivered very well when needed.
MENUS:: "Proof" has an animated main menu with score in the background.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: Although I'm thrilled that director Taylor Hackford has been a big fan of the format and has done quite a few commentary tracks at this point, I was hoping that he would have more to say here. Like the rest of the tracks that the director has recorded, this could best be called a "narration" rather than a commentary. The director talks about what's happening in the scene most of the time but, every so often, he offers an interesting bit of information about working with the two stars and the production in general. For those who are fans of the movie looking to hear more about the production, it may be worth a listen, but it may be slow going for others who aren't as interested.
Also: The disc also offers a promotional 14 minute "HBO Making Of" documentary about the production and the film's theatrical trailer. (Dolby 2.0).
Final Thoughts: Flaws and news stories about the leads aside, "Proof" remains an entertaining, involving and enjoyable thriller/drama with great performances from the leads. Warner's DVD provides an exceptionally good presentation of the top-notch cinematography and also offers both fine sound and extras. Recommended.
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