Life Reviewed by Mac VerStandig critic@moviereviews.org http://www.moviereviews.org 3 Stars (Out of 4)
It has been said more than once that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Hollywood works much the same way, as only the truly great films seem to find themselves being imitated directly or indirectly in future releases. The one question that remains is whether or not an imitation can be as good as or better than an original. Sequels certainly don't tend to be, and remakes are very mixed. But what about in a movie like Life, where deja vu exists with no less than 5 other films but some level of originality is still in place? Director Ted Demme seems to have proven so.
Ray (Eddie Murphy) is a low life pick-pocket who makes a "living" going from petty crime to petty crime. Despite being witty, he seems to hold very little close to him emotionally, except for his father's grave, and has little sense of the true meaning of life.
Claude (Martin Lawrence) is a far more proper man. He has a job lined up for himself at the bank, and is almost over some bad debts. Unfortunately, he too has no true ambition in life, and plans on spending his money on Yankees tickets, rather than settling down and getting married to a woman that clearly loves him.
Through a very odd set of events that seems to wander from crime to crime, in a slow and boring fashion, the two men end up being sentenced to life in jail together, for a crime they did not commit. It is here that the rest of the film is to unfold, and where Claude and Ray are to learn exactly what a life sentence really is, and what it can take away from you.
A mere five years ago, The Shawshank Redemption was released and it had enormous success. Obviously, there are some stark similarities between the two films. Both feature an innocent protagonist (In Life's case, protagonists) who are in for the ultimate punishment. And both films go on to give commentaries on the institutionalization that prison can cause, by showing an older inmate dealing with a reality that the place he is soon to depart, has become a home to him. But that is where the similarities to that production end.
Other films, like Mr. Saturday Night, show two men growing old together and dealing with the cards they have been dealt. But none do so as spectacularly as this one. There are also scenes lifted from, but not limited to, Stir Crazy, Murder in the First, and Spartacus. But none of those have any true similarities beyond the obvious settings (prison) and situations. So, despite being very similar, Life does manage to take it's own direction.
Another potential grim point for this film is the obvious lack of reputable actors in the primary casting. To date, Martin Lawrence has done nothing that would qualify him to play what ultimately is a serious role in a semi-dramatic film. Especially not one that transcends so many generations, and requires him to be as young as 20 and as old as 90. The same can be said of Eddie Murphy, who, despite some great comedic works over time, has done little of a decent dramatic nature. Fortunately, for the benefit of this film, they both turn out beautiful performances that are certainly their finest so far.
The finest acting out of the two leads comes in the later part of the film. As the two progressively age, and the wrinkles on their face multiply, you see how well Martin and Murphy have adapted to playing a far elder role in a very realistic manner. Not only do they change their mannerisms and voices, but you can truly sense a change in overall persona within their characters. That is certainly something you can't remember seeing before out of these two foul mouthed comedians.
One of the weaker elements of this film is the opening. It takes a while to get things into place, and the movie does a relatively poor job of entertaining the audience for the first 20 minutes or so, beyond some occasional humor. Also, in a classic, yet extremely cheap move, the movie skips some much needed details in order to finally get things going. Although you are pleased that after those 20 minutes a plot emerges that is consistent with the film, you still are left with a feeling that something is missing. One scene features the two men in a holding cell, optimistic that since they are truly innocent, they will be acquitted. The next scene is merely a judge slamming down a gavel, pronouncing the word "life." Now, I fully understand that the film has neither the time nor ability to explore a trial sequence, but this all could have been avoided by merely cutting the prior scene in the holding cell.
The ultimate question that can be posed is whether or not a film is quality entertainment. The answer in regards to this production is "yes." There is an element of fine acting by two actors with potential that the world did not previously know of. There is an unfortunate down side in the film's opening, but that is forgivable. Ultimately, the driving force behind Life is that it finally shows that imitation can be quality as well.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews