Life (1999/I)

Director:

Ted Demme

Writers (WGA):

Robert Ramsey (written by) &
Matthew Stone (written by)

Release Date:

16 April 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Share it with someone you love.

Plot:

The story of two criminals (Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence) who discover the value of life after being sentenced to life imprisonment.

Plot Keywords:

1990s | Humor | Jail Time | 1930s | Life Imprisonment

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Eddie Murphy	...	Rayford Gibson
Martin Lawrence	...	Claude Banks
Obba Babatundé	...	Willie Long
Nick Cassavetes	...	Sergeant Dillard
Anthony Anderson	...	Cookie
Barry Shabaka Henley	...	Pokerface
Brent Jennings	...	Hoppin' Bob
Bernie Mac	...	Jangle Leg
Miguel A. Núñez Jr.	...	Biscuit
Michael Taliferro	...	Goldmouth (as Michael 'Bear' Taliferro)
Guy Torry	...	Radio
Bokeem Woodbine	...	Can't Get Right
Ned Beatty	...	Dexter Wilkins
Lisa Nicole Carson	...	Sylvia
O'Neal Compton	...	Superintendant Abernathy

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language and a shooting.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Finland:K-12 | Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:14 | Germany:12 | Ireland:15 | New Zealand:M | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #36417) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Philippines:PG-13 | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

Front Street, Norwalk, California, USA

Company:

Imagine Entertainment

Trivia:

Anthony Anderson's feature film debut.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Jangle Leg introduces himself to Claude, they are seated beside each other with Ray sitting beside Jangle Leg. Then the camera switches to a shot of Ray. If you look below Ray you can see Jangle Leg seated below him.

Quotes:

Claude Banks: [on seeing a body bag being wheeled past] Looks like Jonesy got his walking papers.

Movie Connections:

References Harlem Nights (1989)

Soundtrack:

Banana in Your Fruit Basket

It's not mindless buddy stuff and it's not the Shawshank Redemption, but it's in-between (but not as good)

Ray Gibson and Claude Banks get involved with a local crime boss and end up doing some work for him to make up for their debts. However when running moonshine across the Bible belt they encounter racism and eventually get framed for a murder by a racist sheriff. Sentenced to life they experience a range of things but eventually find that friendship can overcome many things during a course of a life.

I approach this with a certain amount of caution. I expected a buddy comedy full of the heavy-handed comedy that usually comes with a Murphy or a Lawrence movie. Admittedly it does have a certain amount of that – but in small amounts it can be quite funny. The story doesn't create as good a relationship between Ray and Claude as it could have done, and ignores any brutality that may occur, but it still manages to have poignant things to say about friendship.

The `old' makeup isn't as good it could have been but it passes. The story isn't anywhere near Shawshank but it tries to cover similar ground. Although it never reaches that level it is a lot more involving than you'd expect it to be. It may always come down to Murphy and Lawrence bickering but it isn't just that. My only criticism of it is that it appears to have been more fun to make than it is to watch – the outtakes are the funniest bit in the whole thing.

Murphy and Lawrence are not the most subtle of performers but they do OK here. They do better at the comedy than the serious elements but both are warm enough to convince. The cast is made up of a range of reasonable black actors and comedians – Bernie Mac is funny, but again this feeds into the image that the real fun was had in the making of the film rather than the actual film itself. Interesting side roles are given to Ned Beatty, R. Lee Ermey, Bokeem Woodbine, Rick James, Lisa Nicole Carson and Heavy D.

Overall this isn't just a buddy comedy and it isn't quite as meaningful as Shawshank. It falls in-between and, while it's not a classic it's still quite enjoyable to watch – even if all the best bits are in the outtakes at the end.