American capitalism has conquered the world. U.S. corporations are starting new operations and extending their power into faraway countries. Even those who oppose them — guerrillas, terrorists, drug dealers — have caught the spirit of capitalism. They know that no matter what their political agenda (or lack of one), they have got to have money to do what they want. As a result, employees of global corporations are now at risk of being kidnapped for ransom. Appropriately enough, the victims are called "commodities" or "cargo" by those conducting negotiations with the kidnappers to secure their release. This sorry aspect of big business in the twenty-first century is the subject of Proof of Life, an action-suspense drama directed by Taylor Hackford and written by Tony Gilroy.
Peter Bowman (David Morse) is an American engineer who is in a Latin American country to build a dam he believes will protect the local people from the devastations of seasonal flooding. One day he is snatched off the highway in an apparently random attack by an anti-government guerrilla group. However, since he works for an American oil company, his captors demand $3 million for his safe return. Terry Thorne (Russell Crowe), an expert in "K and R" (Kidnap and Ransom), arrives from London to help Alice (Meg Ryan) retrieve her husband. Things get more complicated when they learn that Peter's Houston-based employer, on the verge of bankruptcy, has cancelled his kidnapping insurance policy. The only money Alice can muster must be raised by Peter's sister Janis (Pamela Reed).
None of the people in this drama are very appealing, making it hard to identify with their plight. The guerrillas are drug dealers; Peter demonstrates during his captivity several traits of the archetypal ugly American; Alice is a whiny wife; Terry inexplicably falls in love with her and jeopardizes his professionalism; and Dino (David Caruso), a fellow negotiator, derives great pleasure out of close encounters with death. However, even admitting this drawback to the film, Proof of Life presents a scary picture of the startling complications of doing business globally. It functions as a word of caution for those who still think it's okay that money is king worldwide.