![]() ![]() `The Ref' was the critically lauded and sharp black comedy. His `Who's The Man?' was a strictly silly romp, but was actually funny. Ted Demme is a solid director, a thought that immediately puts me in the minority. ![]() It's refreshing to watch a movie with two actors who seem to be trying something different, all the while living up to previous expectations. Squeezing every moment for comic and emotional juice. It's a good performance, but even better, it's a brilliant pairing with Eddie Murphy. He eventually comes out the best rounded character in the fractured storytelling. He uses that chance to provide the film with a backbone. ![]() `Life' has Lawrence with the quieter role. He's terribly funny, and yet able to win your heart with a depth most comedians don't have. Martin Lawrence shares many of the same attributes as Murphy. I really think he's set for brighter things. With each new movie, Murphy grows as an actor. But he can also be very dramatically convincing. Murphy is a very talented actor, and this movie makes you wish he would try a straight drama for once. ![]() The greatest gift `Life' gives to Murphy is a chance to show off range. `Holy Man' was an unmitigated disaster, but one that didn't effect Murphy with any real damage. Dolittle' was a smash, but a career setback to say the least. Murphy is coming off a uniquely horrific year. As the main characters, the two comedians prove just how valuable they are. You either love stars Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence, or you don't. `Life' is also a film that defies much criticism. It tries to make you pee your pants with its jokes, and yet slap your emotions around with the drama. `Life' is the millionth attempt at warm-hearted comedy. It's a slippery slope to juggle the two genres. You leave the theater thinking `It was funny enough, why couldn't it just stay silly?' My friends, I'm with you on every page. It's a practice as old as time in Hollywood. While the edited version delivers the plot well enough, you'll laugh along with the theatrical version much more.I cannot even begin to count how many `comedies' I have sat through that try to reach for the `timeless' formula by interjecting some lame dramatics to engage the audience even more than the comedy ever could. I was prompted to write this review having just seen it uncut for the first time. Watch this movie please, and if you've seen it watch it again. Lee Ermey as the racist bad guy was genius too. I've been repeating Bernie Mac's lines and the "cornbread" scene for years. The rest of the cast is as underappreciated as this movie is in general. Their love-hate "old married couple" bickering will leave you in stitches. They don't do that so much here, but these guys age from mid-20s to 90s convincingly. Murphy with the Nutty Professor characters, demonstrates serious acting ability while creating laughs. While on the surface, Claude and Ray are sentenced to life in prison for a crime they didn't commit, the real story here is about life-the ups and downs, the choices you make, and the friends you sometimes can't stand but ultimately depend upon along the way.īoth Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence became known for, along with being very funny, the characters they create. It certainly is no serious take on a subject that would be all-too serious elsewhere, but the double entendre of the title belies the reason, besides all the talent present, why this film works so well. If you go to the movies to be entertained, it doesn't get much better than this. ![]()
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