A 2000 American film directed by Taylor Hackford that deals with a kidnap victim's release being negotiated and is based on Thomas Hargrove's, book Long March to Freedom.
An engineer Peter Bowman (David Morse) is abducted and his wife Alice (Meg Ryan) gets help from a former British Air service member and hostage negotiator Terry Thorne (Russell Crowe).
The film also stars Pamela Reed, David Caruso, Anthony Heald, Michael Bryne, Gottfried John and Stanley Anderson.
It was released on December 8, 2000.
Tropes for the film:
- All Crimes Are Equal: The rebels justify kidnapping Peter on the grounds that he's employed by the oil company building the pipeline they want to stop, even if he isn't working on the project. To them, working for the company in any capacity means you're guilty.
- Authentication by Newspaper: A photograph is the titular evidence that Peter isn't dead. And they tortured him a little bit right before the picture was taken by whipping the soles of his feet to make clear they mean business.
- Batman Cold Open: The opening credits sequence is Terry reporting to his superiors in the hostage negotiation company about how he dealt with a negotiation in Eastern Europe and accompanying montage.
- Banana Republic: Tecala, a fictional South American country. It is stated that Tecala has long been the scene of an internal conflict between its government forces and a Marxist guerrilla called the Liberation Army of Tecala (ELT), originally supported by the Soviet Union, but after the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, the ELT began kidnapping people for ransom to fund their operations. A map seen in the film is that of Ecuador.
- Bittersweet Ending: More sweet than bitter. On the sweet side, Terry, Dino and their crew are able to rescue Peter and another hostage without any losses and return as heroes, planning to set up their own independent hostage rescue business together. On the bitter side despite the growing feelings between Terry and Alice over the course of the movie they are forced to accept the futility of the situation and let each other go, returning to their old lives, but knowing they will remember each other.
- Conscience Makes You Go Back: Terry is initially caught up in the politics of Peter's case thanks to Peter's employers, insurance matters and his superiors and is taken off the assignment quickly. The guilt of this gets to him after awhile before deciding to go back to help Alice save her husband, free of charge.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Despite the growing tension between the already married Alice and Terry including a kiss, the futility of anything actually coming of it is realistically pointed out by Dino, and accepted by Terry in the end who tells Alice she must move on with her life without him.
- Dirty Cop: Or maybe just incompetent, it is hard to tell; but when Terry is called back by his company at the midpoint of the film because Peter's company cut off the insurance, the Tecala Police negotiator who arrives in his stead is definitely not as good, allowing the militia to charge him a king's ransom just for the proof of life (Terry makes clear as he kicks the guy out that this is a huge no-no — the proof of life is the freebie, a sign of good faith, and then you negotiate prices).
- Distressed Dude: Peter, Alice's husband, is being held hostage and they try to find a way to rescue him through negotiation with the kidnappers.
- Distinction Without a Difference: Both Alice and (most distressingly) his captors keep insisting that Terry is working for the oil company and building their pipeline even as he makes clear that he works on the construction of a dam which is supposed to help the people (the oil company funds it, but for the latter it's an All Crimes Are Equal territory).
- Film of the Book: The film is based on Long March To Freedom by Thomas Hargrove and the Vanity Fair article Adventures in the Ransom Trade.
- Refusing to Pay the Ransom: The oil company Peter works for (indirectly) pulls double Kick the Dog duty by not only refusing to pay the ransom for his release but firing him in absentia and cutting him off from their abduction insurance, so the executives of the hostage rescue company Terry works for order the latter to return home. The ransom is what the rest of the Bowman family can scrounge together and Terry decides to stay to help with the negotiation.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Is based on Hargrove's experiences of being a hostage and his release being negotiated by Thomas Clayton, founder of Clayton Consultants, Inc.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Terry's globetrotting career has resulted in a strained relationship with his son, who acts distant and formal towards him.