But bad box office wasn't Crowe's only problem. By late December colleagues and friends noticed a cooling of his and Ryan's public ardor. "I think it was your typical costar fling, destined to run its course and burn out," says one Proof crew member. But in fact, says Ryan's friend, Crowe's affection was only burning brighter: "Russell wanted to marry Meg and have kids with her." For her part, she adds, Ryan felt that Crowe's attention and gifts -- including a puppy and a vintage 1963 Buick Riviera -- were "too much too soon. It was overwhelming." Still negotiating peace with Quaid and determined to protect Jack as much as possible, she reportedly began to back off. "She's not dumb," says her friend. "She was not looking to get into another relationship right away. "Reports of Ryan's tearful refusal to go quietly, the pal says, "got it backwards." On Dec. 21 Ryan, looking fatigued, checked solo into the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen, where she stayed a few days getting massages and wandering alone through shops "aimlessly," says an observer, "like she was passing time." Then she headed home to L.A. for a quiet Christmas with Jack, who spent half the day with her, half with Quaid.

Crowe handled the breakup differently, heading for Australia, where he threw rocking Christmas and New Year's bashes and partied with various lady friends. But despite appearances, says Ryan's friend, he still hoped to salvage the romance: "The guy is probably used to getting everything he wants. I don't know that he could figure out what else he could do to make it work." When Ryan turned down his request to accompany him to the Golden Globes on Jan. 21, the surly star -- by now taking precautions against kidnapping threats -- showed up late, left early and, as gossip columnist Liz Smith reported, ended the evening at the Hotel Bel-Air with Courtney Love. More disturbing to Ryan was his failure to publicly deny the Russell-dumped-Meg reports. "Nobody corrected the misperception," the friend says. "He never came to her aid. It still works to humiliate her."

Perhaps it shouldn't. His gruff exterior aside, Crowe's regard for Ryan seems undeniable. "Meg is a beautiful and courageous lady," he told Melbourne's Herald Sun in February. Though he attributed their breakup to her need to be in the U.S. and his to "wake up in the sun (and) walk around under the trees" on his farm in Australia, he sounded regretful. The romance gave him "a lot of light, mate," he said, adding, "I'm an expert at unrequited love."