Proof of Life:
I saw Proof of Life twice in one afternoon. The movie had a chance to deal with a very emotional issue for women and totally failed. The inaccurate treatment of miscarriage was appalling and difficult to understand. In the movie, Alice knows the sex of the fetus, the fetus has a name, and a burial place. I've had three miscarriages. What makes them so devastating is that you know you created a life and you will never know the sex of the soul you created. In addition, the baby will never have a name, will never be baptized, and has no proper burial place. The hardest part about a miscarriage is that there is no lasting proof of a life.

Stillborn children are never referred to as miscarriages by people who have had them. Did Alice have a stillborn child or a miscarriage? The difference matters to those of us who have suffered such losses.

Meg Ryan spoke of the importance of women's issues in Hollywood in her latest interview in Harper's. Russell Crowe frequently has discussed the importance of getting details correct so the audience isn't distracted. How could two actors who take their profession seriously tolerate an error so critical to the movie's plot?

Proof of Life was a failure because it had a dead heart. What a pity, because most of us never have a chance to deal with important issues in the public forum of art. Meg and Russell do and it is very hard to watch them squander their talents. (Cindy E.)