Here’s a film I overlooked for the Class of ’99—consider it a late addition. For a time, it was one of Eddie Murphy’s more overlooked films, and surprisingly, arguably one of his better ones from the last 25 years or so—better-hitting than the poster would try and suggest. So, hopefully not to pay any penalty for passing it over, here’s my take on Life.
Murphy here plays, at least at first, his usual fast-talking schtick in 1930s New York City, as a pretty crook with delusions of grandeur that after a combination of circumstances ends up attached to more well-do-do Manhattanite Claude (Martin Lawrence). With a task to do for a local crime boss (played by Rick James, of all people), both end up having to do a favor that involves running illegal liquor from the Deep South in Mississippi. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, they end up falsely convicted for murder by a bent sheriff and sentenced, to, well, life, alongside others also shoved into the eternally lenient penal system of the place and time (not that much has changed, come to think…)
You’d think wacky hijinks might ensue, but while there is plenty of humor from Murphy so artistically trying to bullshit his way through everything and Martin playing the straight man, what makes the movie work surprisingly well is that there is a genuine heart to it. We’re surrounded by a multitude of prisoners who get some fleshing out for their short appearances—and some creative enough ways once our two heroes manage to bond with them in the ways that an oppressive existence like this would allow.
And, more importantly, it doesn’t shy away from the actual consequences of these man tossed aside for, well, the better part of the 20th century—we see both of them age and miss out on everything from VE days to the moon landing. There’s one poignant scene where Claude emerges temporarily from his custodial duty in the 1970s, and even then finding a world rife with unrecognizable fashions and technology. There’s real enough accounts of prisoners released after decades to find themselves discombobulated, and for a moment, you might just taste why for some they’d rather just stay within the prison system than have to confront something that might as well be another planet to them.
Of course, that’s not entirely what this is all about—but, while perhaps not every joke may land, you do ultimately want to see our two leads get out, patch things up as their relationship waxes and wanes over the years, and it’s also upfront on how perhaps the justice system here is not always so just—in a way that sadly remains ever so relevant. If you haven’t seen it, give it a watch—it’s a helluva better entry for Murphy than the latex-laden parade of nonsense he put out not long after…
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