Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Memorable, crazy movie

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Ted Demme's Life is a hard one to classify or box into genres, which may have been why it didn't do all that great at the box office and subsequently slipped through the cracks, a result that often befalls ambitious, unique films that people aren't ready to surrender to. Part comedy, part tragedy, all drama infused with just a bit of whimsy, it's a brilliant piece and one of the most underrated outings from both of it's high profile stars, Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. It seems fitting that the two lively, cartoonish cowboys of comedy should share the screen, and it's lucky they got such a wicked script. In the roaring twenties, Murphy is smooth talking petty thief Ray, Lawrence is hapless, hot blooded bank teller Claude, and the pair couldn't be more suited or dysfunctional towards each other. Brought together for an ill fated moonshine run bankrolled by a nasty NYC Gangster (Rick James), things go wrong in the most auspicious of places a black man could find himself during that time: Mississippi. Framed for the murder of a local conman (Clarence Williams III) by a psychotic, corrupt Sheriff (Ned Vaughn), they're given life in prison by the judge, and this is where their peculiar adventure really begins. Put under the supervision of a violent but oddly sympathetic corrections officer played awesomely by Nick Cassavetes, the two wrongfully convicted, hard-luck fellows spend their entire adult life and most of the twentieth century incarcerated... and that's the film. Squabbling year by year, making a whole host of friends out of their fellow convicts and never losing their sense of humour, it's the one of the strangest narratives I've seen, and somehow works wonders in keeping us glued to the screen. Supporting the two leads is a legendary ensemble including Ned Beatty as warm hearted superintendent, Anthony Anderson, Bernie Mac, Bokeem Woodbine, Barry Shabaka Henley, Heavy D, Don Harvey, Noah Emmerich, Obba Babatundé, Sanaa Latham, R. Lee Ermey and more. Murphy and Lawrence have never been better, shining through Rick Baker's wicked old age makeup in the latter portion of the film, and letting the organic outrage and frustration towards their situation pepper the many instances of humour, accenting everything with their friendship, which is the core element really. The film's title, simple as it, has a few meanings, at least for me. Life as in 'life in prison', in it's most literal and outright sense. Life as in 'well tough shit, that's life and it ain't always pretty,' another reality shared with us by the story. But really it's something more oblique, the closest form of explanation I can give being 'life happens.' There's no real social issues explored here, no heavy handed agenda (had the film been released in this day and age, that would have almost certainly been a different story), no real message, we just see these events befall the two men. They roll with each new development, they adapt and adjust, they learn, they live. In a medium that's always being plumbed and mined for deeper meanings, subtext and allegories, it's nice to see a picture that serves up the human condition without all those lofty bells and whistles. Their story is random, awkward, unpredictable, never short on irony, seldom fair, often tragic, and ever forward moving. That's Life.

Sentenced to life in prison after they are wrongfully convicted of murder, two would-be bootleggers gain popularity among their inmates for their repeated escape attempts in this lively comedy. Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence bounce well off one another in the main roles with a friendship that gets worn and tested throughout. The real fun of the film only begins though after the one-hour mark with the film fast-forwarding several decades to focus on Murphy and Lawrence as old men, still sticking it to the same warden (played by Nick Cassavetes) and still as youthful as ever when it comes to plotting escapes and egging one another on. The makeup effects to age Murphy, Lawrence and Cassavetes are nothing short of remarkable too and were deservedly nominated for an Academy Award at the time. That said, the first hour of the film is not without merit. There is a highly memorable "I am Spartacus!" parody as a governor tries to work out which inmate has fathered his daughter's baby and a darkly comical letter-from-home reading session. Some of the initial scenes (before they are imprisoned) work well too, with a special mention to a scene in which the duo unsuccessfully try to purchase a pie. And yet, there is little denying that the final third of the film is by far the juiciest section, topped off with an ending that is hard to forget. For a laugh-out-loud and totally enthralling Eddie Murphy comedy, 'Bowfinger' is a safer better, but this other 1999 effort from the Oscar nominated star is not half-bad, even if it only achieves greatness towards the end.

A prison inmate recites the story of two petty law breakers Ray Gibson (Eddie Murphy) and Claude Banks (Martin Lawrence). The two men are framed for murder whilst they are completing a bootlegging job in Mississippi for Spanky Johnson (Rick James) - a man to whom the two men owe a lot of money. The story chronicles their early life in prison in 1930's Mississippi right the way through to the present day.This film gets off to a fairly impressive start; the bootlegging aspect of the film sets Ray and Claude up as a mismatched buddy duo (a tired scenario even by 1999, but amusing nonetheless). The 'no coloureds allowed' scene in the café was quite funny, but for me it was also clumsy and rather heavy-handed (as were many of the scenes in this film). Once they've collected the alcohol the two men lose all their money in a combination of stupidity and naivety which again was quite amusing. Where it really started to fall apart for me was when the two men end up in prison....This seemed to be where the film almost grinds to a halt and becomes repetitive, tedious and uninteresting. Many of the Southern characters are dull clichés and sadly none of them get any kind of development and nor are we given any reason to care for any of them. The only mildly interesting character was Can't Get Right who shows himself to be an exceptional baseball player and ends up getting a pardon so he can compete professionally - although it's fair to presume that he made it big it might have been nice if this was added as a little insert at the end. As mentioned, poor characterisation is what really lets this film down; in most prison dramas there are usually at least one or two side characters who the protagonists form bonds with and this is what usually helps to give films of this nature some lift, but to me this really just felt like the Lawrence and Murphy show. It's probably inaccurate to class a lot of the cast as supporting characters as they acted more like extras than anything else. This point is further reinforced by the fact that many of the characters just disappeared from screen (literally) later in the film - presumably because they either die or end up being released - again this is never made clear. It's strange that this is classed as a story about two men spending 65 years in prison because to me it actually felt like a story without a story - many things seemed to happen that end up going nowhere, seemingly important plot points are established without being expanded upon (such as Claude's appeal). This aimless feel to the film sadly made it feel quite boring to me.Lawrence and Murphy are the only things that really prevent this film from being a complete disaster; Murphy brings his usual energy to the table and is great fun to watch. Lawrence fares well here as the straight man and bounces well off Murphy. Together, Murphy and Lawrence's chemistry is good, but again even they start to become tiresome (particularly in the latter stages when they are old men). The film has some amusing prison moments - the governor holding his daughter's baby up to each of the inmates to determine who the father is was actually a stroke of genius. I have to admit that the ending was very clever as well. However, these good moments were few and far between. Die-hard Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence fans may get something out of this, but there are far better prison dramas out there and this for me stands as one of the weakest that I've seen.

This may contain a spoiler guys, I'm not exactly sure but just warning you in case....you have been warned!As the title suggests, this is a movie about life. Its about the lives of two men that get sentenced for life as well as having a slight hint on a moral grounds of the message of life! (Sorry, I couldn't help it). A decent movie made just before the sad and gradual decline of the two stars, Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence (with movies like Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son and Norbit).The movie opens with two inmates burying the bodies of two deceased inmates and an elderly man in a wheelchair who claims to have known them for a long time. He then goes into a story about the lives of the deceased, and we are thrown into New York 1932. The movie is then told in a progression through time with the wheel chaired man giving an occasional narration.OK, so a quick rundown on the plot of the movie. Murphy plays a conman by the name of Rayford Gibson and Lawrence a professional man named Claude Banks (who will shortly start a job as a bank teller). Both men owe a mobster money. They get a chance to stay alive by doing a booze run in acquiring some moon shine from Mississippi. There they lose all their money and are accused of having killed a man. Charged with both this and bootlegging, the two are sentenced to life in prison. Across the 65 year sentence the two men constantly bicker, make and lose friends and figure out ways to escape from their dreary misfortune.The movie is directed by Ted Demme (Blow and Snitch), this was his second last movie. In short, the guy knew what he was doing. And kudos to him for this movie, I personally cannot find too much to complain about in this area, but if you guys do, lemme know.As for the acting itself, it is fairly decent but obviously not Oscar worthy. Murphy and Lawrence show great chemistry during this movie. Playing two absolute strangers who happen to become friends as they age to about 90 at the end of the movie. It is because they were originally strangers that the two are mainly bickering to each other throughout the movie, often using quips, threats and insults. This is where quite a lot of the comedy lies, with these remarks between each other and some of the other stars like Anthony Anderson, Bernie Mac, Guy Torry just to name a few.Another good performance is from Nick Cassavetes who plays the sergeant of the prison. Easily one can tell that his character is a racist with the way he treats the prisoners but the movie does well in making him more than two dimensional as his character actually changes through the movie.This movie also attempts to have some heart, which well, not like Shawshank Redemption, but it pulls it off in some places. Namely with the progression of the friendship of Ray and Claude, but with stories of some of the other characters and the hard life they have with their long sentences. The viewer may feel slight attachment or sympathy for these characters but these things are never lingered on for too long and so will quickly be forgotten.The movie also has subtle humour in some serious situations. Namely when Ray (Eddie Murphy's character) finds out nobody can read, so he reads a letter for an inmate. The letter reveals that practically everyone of his family has died, some from bizarre cases. When finished, Ray offers if anyone else wants a letter read and as one they say "no" and turn away.I could go on to complain that the make-up used to age the characters could have looked more convincing and so on but I know that wasn't really the movie's aim. So really, who cares?For a movie that is entertaining, in both being funny and slightly serious with a good ending, I truly think this movie is one for people to watch. Not saying you would think its the best thing out there, or that you should hunt it down like a piece of treasure. But if you do get your hands on this, sit down and watch it, especially if you guys are fans of Eddie Murphy or Martin Lawrence.originally posted on my blog www.comikkazee.com