(NOTE: Capsule version of the review is available here.)
It takes a lot of bravery for film makers to use high concept dealing with fate equal or worse than death. And it takes even more bravery when such high concept is used in a comedy like Life, 1999 film directed by Ted Demme.
The plot begins in 1932 Harlem where small time criminal Rayford “Ray” Gibson (played by Eddie Murphy) meets bank clerk Claude Banks (played by Martin Lawrence). Both men have very little in common except owing money to the night club owner Spanky (played by Rick James). In order to pay the debt, they agree to travel to Mississippi where they would obtain still illegal, but relatively cheap, liquor for Spanky’s club. The deal goes as planned, but both men make a fatal mistake of celebrating in a bar, which is an opportunity for card shark Winston Hancock (played by Clarence Williams III) to deprive them of their money. Soon after the game Hancock gets murdered by corrupt sheriff Pike (played by Ned Vaughn) who immediately frames two men for the crime. Since both perpetrators and victim are black, the Mississippi jury finds life in prison more suitable punishment than electric chair. Ray and Claude are going to spend next decades on various prison farms where mostly black inmates are used as cheap labour. Although their chance of release are slim, and chances for escape even slimmer, Ray and Claude dream of freedom and their initial enmity gradually transforms into friendship.
Scriptwriters Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone tackled rather unpopular theme of innocent men being forced to spend decades behind bars for the crime they didn’t commit. In most such films protagonists find their way to escape such predicament, but in Life audience sees what happens when they don’t. Ramsey and Stone also try to avoid most of the cliches related to bigoted pre-1960s Deep South and even when the characters are clearly racists, they are occasionally allowed to show glimpses of humanity, like in the case of character of prison guard Sergeant Dillard, played by Nick Cassavettes. On the other hand, although director Ted Demme has very good cast at his disposal, including comic stars Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence at the top their game, he struggles to find coherent tone in the film. Life stars as unusually nostalgic portrayal of 1930s New York City (very much like Murphy’s failed Harlem Nights), then turns into more generic black comedy before ending as sentimental but quite serious drama more like Shawshank Redemption. Too silly to be regarded as serious prison drama and too dark to be enjoyed as entertaining comedy, Life ends in genre limbo and can’t get more than merely a passing grade.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
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