Life (1999)
Directed by Ted Demme
Two men in 1930s Mississippi become friends after being sentenced to life in prison together for a crime they did not commit.
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What critics compared Life to
Even such an accomplished prison film as The Shawshank Redemption fell for this sentimental view of life behind bars (I much prefer the balls-to-the-walls spit and snarl of HBO's Oz), and now there is Life, which tries to turn the subject into a comedy vehicle for Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence.
Let's just say the movie, which has some passing similarities with "The Shawshank Redemption," spans two lifetime sentences.
It starts off as a wacky period piece set in the Prohibition era of 1932 (with echoes of Eddie's '89 bomb Harlem Nights), but then it turns into The Shawshank Redemption.
Dragging its feet between I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (released the same year that Life finds its "murderers" caught up in the criminal injustice system) and the camaraderie and bleakness of The Shawshank Redemption, Life instead is a sailboat stranded in a windless sea, a comedy slant on The Bridge on the River Kwai sinking without the bridge or the river.
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).
"Life" is a questionable title that doesn't chill one to the bone so much as remind of the mediocre 1999 prison dramedy starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence.
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).
Accordingly, many may accuse director Ted Demme ("Life," "Monument Avenue") of ripping off Scorsese in both look and feel, but hey, if you're going to copy/emulate/steal from someone else's work, you could do far worse than doing so from one of the cinema's masters.
Director Demme ( Life ) does not seem to be judging his main character, but he pulls no punches about the downward spiral that can result from such a life of crime, especially in the drug business.
The problem with "Blow" is director Ted Demme ("Beautiful Girls," the underrated "Life"), who's certainly not on the same page as Depp, and scriptwriters Nick Cassavetes and David McKenna, who have rendered out of Bruce Porter's book a screenplay of accomplished idiocy.
"Blow" was directed by Ted Demme, which comes as a surprise, as Demme is otherwise known for little movies like the forgettable Eddie Murphy vehicle "Life", the so-so hostage comedy "The Ref" (which did feature Kevin Spacey as a disgruntled, wisecracking suburbian family man 5 years before American Beauty) and the little seen "Monument Avenue".