The prison movie has long been a favorite of Hollywood and its filmmakers. With the penal setting's own societal structure, rules, close quarters and many restrictions, such films have plenty of potential and can be both entertaining and informative if handled correctly.
While most are dramatic -- think of Paul Newman in "Cool Hand Luke" and Clint Eastwood in "Escape From Alcatraz" -- some of have been funny -- such as "Stir Crazy" (Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor) and "The Longest Yard" (Burt Reynolds) -- while others are nothing short of outstanding -- such as "Papillon" (Steve McQueen) and the incomparable "The Shawshank Redemption" (Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman).
The latest entry in the genre, "Life" tries to be a little bit of all three. Rather flat but functional as a drama and clearly not anywhere in the same league as "Shawshank," the film obviously works best as a comedy, although it's not always as funny as one might expect considering the presence of its two often uproarious co-stars.
This isn't the first time comedians Eddie Murphy ("The Nutty Professor," "48 Hours") and Martin Lawrence ("Nothing to Lose," "A Thin Line Between Love and Hate") have appeared together (they did so in 1992's "Boomerang") and they work rather well as a comically bickering team. What's surprising is that both seemed to have partially toned down their often comedically volatile personas for their roles here.
Unfortunately, those efforts to bring a little more depth to their characters are mostly hampered by the meandering script from Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone (who collaborated on the little seen "Destiny Turns on the Radio"). While the plot lurches forward in somewhat jerky temporal increments (hitting the years 1932, '44, '72 and '97), it never really goes anywhere as far as developing a story. Instead, it serves mainly as a slight foundation upon which to build and deliver the film's jokes, but it's not until later in the picture that they finally start arriving with any regularity.
That's not to say that the film is lacking in humor before that -- and there are some funny moments -- but simply that there's probably not as much as one might expect. Most of what's there, however, comes from Murphy and Lawrence's characters constantly bickering and irritating each other over the years. As such, they end up playing something of the imprisoned, African American version of "The Odd Couple" that appropriately later turns into "Grumpy Old Men" as their characters get older.
Beyond that, however, Ramsey, Stone and director Ted Demme ("Monument Ave.," "Beautiful Girls") simply dredge up standard issue prison movie cliches -- as if there were a going out of business sale on them in the Alcatraz Island tour -- and have assembled them in nothing more than a pure episodic fashion.
Not only do we see one of our "heroes" fight a hulking figure while a ring of prisoners encircle them, but there are also the escape attempts, the gay prisoners and the tough Southern "bossman" and even tougher physical labor. Of course some of the film's humor comes from such moments, which is okay for a comedy since that's how it's supposed to work, but there's so much of the same old material that I kept waiting for either Murphy or Lawrence to have to down several dozen hard-boiled eggs on a bet. They don't, and thus Paul Newman gets to keep that record.
That said, and although such moments and the passing of time are the only things that really string the movie along, Demme manages to infuse enough old-fashioned charm into the proceedings to make them easily palatable. A scene where Ray and his fellow cons imagine they're living the life as free men in Ray's swanky speakeasy is clearly one of the film's highlights and there enough other moments -- although not as good as that one -- to easily make the film an audience favorite.
Of course a great deal of that also rides on the shoulders of the leading men and their supporting cast and all do a decent job in delivering their performances. Murphy, no stranger to the period after starring in "Harlem Nights" delivers an agreeable, but not particularly exceptional or compelling take on his character. That latter attribute, however, can partially be applied to Lawrene's performance.
Usually quite the volatile actor, Lawrence nicely plays the straight man part and delivers some fine moments, particularly later in the film when Rick Baker's always reliable old age makeup effect gives his character more character. Having already collaborated with Murphy in "The Nutty Professor" Baker's work is once again outstanding, entirely believable and another high point for the film.
The rest of the performances are all decent, from Ned Beatty ("Cookie's Fortune") as a compassionate warden to Bokeem Woodbine ("The Big Hit") playing a mute baseball talent and Bernie Mac ("The Players Club") as a character whose name, Jangle Leg, perfectly describes his identifying behavior.
Despite it's strung together plot and the fact that its "touching" moments, while partially effective -- such as when an aged Claude stares at the young people of the world and realizes that life has passed him by -- are too few and far between to give the film the "Shawshank" qualities it seems to occasionally be pursuing. Even so, the film does have enough crowd pleasing moments to insure a decent run at the box office.
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 -- including the obligatory but funny out-takes during the end credits -- to earn a moderate passing grade. As such, we give "Life" a 5.5 out of 10.
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