# Life (1999)

### reviewed by
Berge Garabedian

    LIFE
    RATING: 5 / 10 --> Bad movie

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Two of my personal favorite funnymen, Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence, join together in a prison comedy that starts out in the 1930s and moves its way into the 1990s, with plenty of foul language and makeup for its stars. The duo was last teamed up in 1992's BOOMERANG.

PLOT: Two innocent black men get sentenced to life in the South, after they are found hovering over a dead man's body. All of their time in jail is spent trying to get out, and attempting to be funny.

CRITIQUE: A disappointing film for the two main stars, this movie offers a few chuckles here and there, no laugh out loud scenes, a lot of retreading scenarios involving prisoners trying to escape, rape one another, and ending up in "the hole", alongside an unimaginative plot and a cast of unbelievably wholesome jailbirds. I kept waiting for this film to "break out" in one scene or another, but it never really did. In fact, it actually went the other way, and decided to add a few touching scenes near the end, just to let us know that "Hey folks, jail isn't all that funny in real life!". Yeah, well...whatever. Note to Eddie Murphy: Enough of the prosthetics, dude...stop hiding behind all of that make-up and start choosing some scripts that truly bring out your innate humor.

Much like the rest of the night's audience, I still could not resist chuckling along to Murphy and Lawrence's foul mouths (especially when they were in their old men makeup), but obviously, you do not base a complete comedy on stars talking about "mutherf**ker this" and "mutherf**ker" that! I couldn't have cared less about the characters or the story line, and most certainly would not recommend this film to anyone looking for interesting characters, an interesting story line or an original idea. Even the final scene was contrived and unbelievable, just for the sake of the conclusion. My gut instinct always tells me to stay away from comedies whose trailers do not even make me crack a smile. This film's trailer had me wondering if it was even a drama or not, so I guess my sixth sense came through on this one. Having said that, if you actually do find the film's teaser to be appealing, and really love Murphy or Lawrence, you may just want to catch this movie...on video. All in all, this life sucks.

Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Look closely, because the "bad guy" in this movie, Spanky Johnson, is played by none other than musician Rick James himself. That's right, the man who sang "Super Freak"! Martin Lawrence was born in Frankfurt, Germany and received $8,500,000 for his role in this film. The man who plays Sgt. Dillard in this film is Nick Casssavetes. You may remember him from his role in John Woo's FACE/OFF (8.5/10), in which he played a drug dealer. He is also a director in his own right, having filmed UNHOOK THE STARS (7/10) and SHE'S SO LOVELY (5/10). The two screenwriters' (Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone ) last collaboration was the ill-fated DESTINY TURNS ON THE RADIO. The idea for this film was actually Eddie Murphy's. In case you're wondering where you've seen the actor who plays the character of "Can't Get Right" in this movie. His name is Bokeem Woodbine, and he recently starred opposite Mark Wahlberg and Lou Diamond Phillips in THE BIG HIT (6.5/10). The hooker with the big breasts in this film is the ever-popular Lisa Nicole Carson, currently presenting her acting chops on TV's "ER" and "Ally McBeal". Actress Poppy Montgomery's middle name is Petal (She played the pretty, white girl in this film.) In real life, her four sisters are also all named after flowers: Rosie Thorn, Daisy Yellow, Lily Belle and Marigold Sun.

    Review Date:          April 14, 1999
    Director:                  Ted Demme
    Writers:                    Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone
    Producers:               Brian Grazer and Eddie Murphy
    Actors:                     Eddie Murphy as  Ray Gibson
                                     Martin Lawrence as Claude Banks
    Genre:                     Comedy
    Year of Release:    1999

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    (c) 1999 Berge Garabedian

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