Proof of Life

Starring: Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe

Directed by: Taylor Hackford

RS: Not Rated

2000 Action

Proof of Life offers the lure of seeing Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan re-enact their real-life affair on the big screen, and then delivers nothing more than a chaste kiss. The rest is a substandard kidnap-and-ransom thriller in which Crowe, as a hostage negotiator, tries to save Ryan's husband (David Morse) from third-world terrorists. Director Taylor Hackford allows Ryan to mope around in an absurd array of outfits, undeprived of the constant attentions of a hair-and-makeup staff. In an offbeat tribute to Bogie and Claude Rains in Casablanca, Crowe and David Caruso, as another ransom gladiator, steal what's left of the film. Slim pickings.

PETER TRAVERS
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