'LIFE' WIMPS OUT BEFORE PROVING ANYTHING.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

``Proof of Life'' does have a pulse, but it's an irregular one. Intriguing at times, exciting in spurts and unfortunately devoid of the bloodfire a romantic thriller needs to ignite, it's a movie of moments that never add up to a satisfying whole.

Filmed with great difficulty in the Ecuadorean Andes and ripped from the headlines (the film draws inspiration from both a Vanity Fair article and Thomas Hargrove's memoir of being kidnapped for ransom, ``Long March to Freedom''), the movie can't help but generate some interest. But director Taylor Hackford repeatedly allows it to dissipate into a haze of what can only be considered narrative timidity.

Of course, we all know that Meg Ryan commenced an extramarital liaison with her co-star Russell Crowe during the film's production, and that has perhaps led Hackford to downplay the story's romantic elements in his final release cut (a love scene, for example, that was filmed between the two leads is not only missing from the screen, but there's no indication that anything close to such a thing ever happened with the characters).

But Hackford and his longtime screenwriter Tony Gilroy probably realized they had a bigger commercial problem with the piece and, at some point, opted for the cowardly way out. What they were obviously going for here was a modern-day ``Casablanca,'' a tale of passionate love that political and ethical circumstances simply would not permit. But in the clutch, Hackford didn't dare go far enough with the on-screen affair, knowing that doing so would offend the moralistic sensibilities of some viewers.

Which it probably would; after all, Ryan's Alice Bowman is comfortably ensconced in a former drug lord's luxurious dream house while her kidnapped husband Peter (David Morse) is forced-marched over half of the Andes by his terrorist captors. A fling with the kidnap-and-ransom expert Terry Thorne (Crowe), whose only agenda should be negotiating Peter's safe return, would certainly seem, at the absolute least, insensitive.

But doesn't true love, in life and especially the movies, erupt outside of our wishful efforts to keep it in proper perspective?

If Terry and Alice were meant to be so well-behaved, why focus early scenes on the Bowmans' deeply alienating conjugal conflicts? Why make the highly professional Thorne's only evident reason for working this loser of a case strictly personal? Why spend the middle half of the film detailing the couple's close, emotional interactions and ever-expanding interest in what makes one another tick?

By not taking their relationship to at least the precipice of its logical consummation, Hackford may mollify a few judgmental types, but he eliminates the story's central ethical dilemma in the process. If these two don't care enough to at least strongly express their feelings for one another, why should we?

Anyway, what that leaves ``Proof of Life'' with is a bunch of disconnected action movie beats and an extraneous girl. We see Thorne pulling off a daring extraction in Chechnya, hear him explain the (often fascinating) statistics and stratagems that apply to the burgeoning, international kidnap-for-cash trade, and watch Peter suffer and endure and plot to outwit his cold-hearted captors while struggling to maintain shreds of hope, sanity and self-worth.

Through most of this, the charismatic Crowe comes off sensitive but in control. Ryan just seems lost ... perhaps an arguable choice considering Alice's predicament, but it plays more like the actress isn't sure what her character's purpose really is. If that's the case, she would certainly not be alone in that confusion.

Those Ecuador locations are breathtaking and the movie's basic theme should scare most Americans from going anywhere near them. Fear, justified or not, makes a very effective block to beautiful experiences, whether it's in volatile parts of the world or a Hollywood editing room.

``PROOF OF LIFE''

(Rated R: violence, language, drug use)

The stars: Russell Crowe, Meg Ryan, David Morse, David Caruso, Pamela Reed.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Taylor Hackford. Written by Tony Gilroy. Produced by Hackford and Charles Mulvehill. Released by Warner Bros.

Running time: Two hours, 15 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Two and one half stars

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Meg Ryan stars as a kidnapped executive's wife and Russell Crowe stars as the ransom negotiator in ``Proof of Life.''