A lot of laughs!
Life (1999)
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Reviews Counted:54
Fresh:27
Rotten:27
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: Entertaining if not over-the-top humor from a solid comic duo provides plenty of laughs.
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence team up for a prison comedy underlined by serious social commentary. Rayford Gibson (Murphy), an opportunistic con man, and Claude Banks (Lawrence), an ambitious... Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence team up for a prison comedy underlined by serious social commentary. Rayford Gibson (Murphy), an opportunistic con man, and Claude Banks (Lawrence), an ambitious bank teller, are complete opposites who cross paths in 1930s Harlem. In order to pay off their debts to a local crime lord, the mismatched pair travel into the Deep South on a moonshine delivery only to be framed for murder by a racist Southern cop. Sentenced to life in a Mississippi state prison, the bickering duo spend the next 60 years trading barbs and planning their escape, at the same time forming an unlikely but touching friendship. [More]
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Obba Babatunde, Ned Beatty
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Obba Babatunde, Ned Beatty, Bernie Mac, Miguel A. Nunez, Clarence Williams, Bokeem Woodbine, Nick Cassavetes, Noah Emmerich, Lee Ermey
Director: Ted Demme
Director: Ted Demme
Screenwriter: Robert Ramsey, Matthew Stone
Producer: Brian Grazer, Eddie Murphy
Composer: Wyclef Jean
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Reviews for Life
The movie doesn't care much about realism, depicting the rigors of prison-farm life about as convincingly as Life Is Beautiful portrays a Nazi death camp. But it makes up in energy what it lacks in authenticity.
We have been treated to something we normally would never get in a prison comedy like this: a little delicacy with the humor.
Life is a surprise that not only avoids typical trappings, but throws in a tinge of the bittersweet as well.
Although it's not as constantly and/or outrageously funny as one would expect, the film is certainly easy to sit through and has enough laughs and otherwise entertaining moments.
Murphy and an uncharacteristically restrained Lawrence are a solid team, and Ted Demme's sympathetic direction allows them to draw as much humor out of the dismal situation as they can.
Latest News for Life
June 13, 2005:
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If you don't already know by now, the once-King of Pop, AKA The Gloved One, AKA Wacko Jacko, AKA MJ, or as his momma named him, Michael Joseph Jackson, was found not guilty on... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 49% 49% | Taking Woodstock |
| 26% 26% | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard |
| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
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