Life (1999)

Life (1999)

6/10

Starring

Eddie Murphy

Martin Lawrence

 

Directed by Ted Demme

 

 

I like Life. It’s a good movie with an amazing soundtrack, but also a sad one that reflects how things were in the '70s, where being Black and in the wrong place at the wrong time could land you in serious trouble. It’s not that things have changed drastically now, but being Black back then was far worse than it is today.

This is a comedy, and at the time of its release, Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence were household names. Pairing them together in a movie seemed like a surefire way to bring in box-office success, but this film wasn’t a commercial hit, even though it was a critical one measurably. It’s easy to see why when you watch it—it’s a comedy, but a bittersweet one. The writing is fantastic, and the plot is incredibly engaging because you’re hooked on seeing how these two characters will find a way out of the mess they’re in. It is well directed, with dialogues that keep you smiling and never letting you down.

The movie’s plot is framed as a story told by a fellow inmate about two friends, Ray (Eddie Murphy) and Claude (Martin Lawrence), who were wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
We learn that they didn’t start off as friends. They were brought together by circumstances beyond their control—basically, a string of bad luck. Ray and Claude were supposed to clear their individual debts by working for a gangster to smuggle illegal alcohol.

During the job, the two get sidetracked, and Ray loses his watch to a hustler. When they try to leave, they find the hustler dead, and before they can say a word, they’re framed for his murder.
They’re sentenced to life with hard labor. Knowing they’re innocent, Ray and Claude refuse to just sit back and rot in jail. They start working on escape plans, none of which succeed. They even try to do things the legit way by helping a promising baseball player, but that doesn’t work either.

Stuck in prison with no hope of getting out, the two eventually stop talking to each other. After years of silence, with Ray still scheming to escape, they finally decide to reconnect.
This reconciliation doesn’t happen easily, but how they rebuild their friendship and navigate life in prison is something you’ll have to see for yourself.

As I said, the movie is sad, though some might see the ending as happy. For me, it was bittersweet.