Life Movie Review 1999

New Yorkers Ray (Murphy) and Claude (Lawrence) head south on a moonshine run to pay off a debt to a bootlegger (James). Along the way, ther're framed for murder and sentenced to life on a Mississippi prison farm. Through the years, the two develop a deep, but insult-filled friendship while adjusting to prison life and harboring dreams of freedom. Murphy and Lawrence click well as a comic team, and the movie is best when it stays out of their way. The institutionalized racism of the setting is treated superficially, with the prison appearing to be, despite the slave-like work and gun-toting guards, not an entirely horrible place to live.

Distribution

Universal Studios Home Video, 100 Universal City Plz., Universal City, CA 91608-9955, Phone: (818)777-1000, Fax: (818)866-1483, URL: http://www.universalstudios.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 108 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Comedy Drama, American South, Men in Prison, Great Depression, Baseball, The Wrong Man, Buddies, Flashback

Screenplay

Robert Ramsey, Matthew Stone

Cast

Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Ned Beatty, Cicely Tyson, Clarence Williams, Obba Babatunde, Bernie Mac, Michael "Bear" Taliferro, Miguel A. Nunez, Bokeem Woodbine, Barry (Shabaka) Henley, Brent Jennings, Guy Torry, Lisa Nicole Carson, O'Neal Compton, Poppy Montgomery, Ned Vaughn, R. Lee Ermey, Nick Cassavetes, Noah Emmerich, Anthony Anderson, Rick James

Cinematography

Geoffrey Simpson

Director

Ted (Edward) Demme

Music

Wyclef Jean