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Life
***
Cinema
Releases - August 27, 1999
Rated on a 4-star
scale. USA. Directed by Ted Demme. Written by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone.
Starring Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Obba Babatunde, Bernie Mac, Rick
James, Miguel A. Nunez Jr., Ned Beatty, Bokeem Woodbine, Clarence Williams
III, Young Sheriff Pike, Older Sheriff Pike.
The American Deep South was not, by any account,
a pleasant place for black folks. History books, stories and general reputation
have conveyed an atmosphere of sick and violent anxiety and hatred both during
and after slavery. Whether it's still anywhere near as bad, I don't have
a clue, but from watching "Life", you'd think the racial tension
was never more than a joke -- Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence, playing 1930s
New Yorker blacks, smart-ass their way past plenty of angry hicks, and not
once are we supposed to be concerned. No sir, this sure ain't "Mississippi
Burning"...
It is, however, a surprisingly successful comedy,
which gets away with so much because of a charming, innocent spirit. "Innocent
spirit" is, indeed, how each of our main characters could be described. Dodgy
loudmouth Ray (Murphy) and straight-arrow banker Claude (Lawrence) find
themselves down in Mississippi on an errand to collect moonshine for Harlem
gangster Spanky (Rick James). On their way back, after having a few drinks
to prepare for the long road ahead, the men discover a fresh corpse outside
a speakeasy, and when they stop to take a look, are quickly accused of the
crime. Their arrest is swift, too, as is their judgement -- by the next morning,
Ray and Claude are beginning life sentences.
The layout of their plantation-style prison camp
places them in a small group of folks, with a wide range of farcical character
traits. The film stays with them through the years, as members of the group
grow more used to their incarceration, and to each other, and as several
of them pass on. The odd structure gets into the prison routine for ten years,
covers the next fifty years in a five-minute montage (!) and then settles
down again for a few final months. The even odder tone creates a goofy, loveable
and almost nostalgic reflection on life in a Mississippi
penitentiary.
Still, there are flashes of near-great filmmaking
in "Life", such as when Ray shares his fantasy about owning a nightclub with
the rest of the fellows, or when Claude takes a shy baseball-playing inmate
under his wing. Combined with the set-up, which creates a convincing sense
of atmosphere and character, the moments make clear how "Life" could have
been something much more special. A somewhat more realistic movie, which
could admit to some of the horror of the situation, and could have put more
effort into making us feel years go by and relationships develop convincingly,
could still have found a place for the most powerful comic element -- the
rapid-fire banter between Murphy and Lawrence. There would be belly laughs,
and there would be poignancy.
The potential of "Life" as opposed to its actual
ambition is therefore so obvious, so nagging, that I cannot simply view this
picture as enjoyable broad comedy. It does, however, work on that level for
just about enough of the time -- photographed in bright, accessible colours;
directed with appealingly playful rambunctious energy. (One of the outtakes
shown in the end credits -- involving a telephone -- is alone worth the price
of admission.) "Life" may not earn the right to its portentous title, but
I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it.
COPYRIGHT© 1999 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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