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Parents' Guide to

Life

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Raw humor, violence in thoughtful buddy comedy.

Movie R 1999 108 minutes
Life Poster Image

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What's the Story?

In LIFE, it's the 1930s, and Claude (Martin Lawrence) is at a Harlem nightclub with his girlfriend, celebrating his recent hire as a bank teller. While in the rest room, Claude encounters two henchmen representing the mob boss to whom Claude owes money, and then has a run-in with Ray (Eddie Murphy), a fast-talking conman who pickpockets Claude's wallet. Ray is also in trouble with the mob boss, and the two men are forcibly removed from the club and taken to the docks where the mob boss awaits. While Claude is getting dunked in the water and Ray is on the verge of getting killed, Ray offers to pick up dozens of cases of the finest Mississippi moonshine and deliver it back to Harlem in the hopes of making things right. He nominates Claude as the driver, and it's a chance for him to make things right. They hit the road, but their troubles begin as soon as they enter the South. They encounter segregation at a diner, and then after getting the delivery, the two men go to a local juke joint so Ray can drink, play cards, and have fun. But when Ray is cheated at cards by a man named Winston, they realize that they're being played for suckers and try to leave, but while heading for their truck, they find Winston's body, and shortly after, the corrupt sheriff immediately frames Ray and Claude for the murder. Ray and Claude are to serve a life sentence of hard labor in the infamous Parchman Farm, where they will stay for the next 65 years. As the world passes them by, the two men dream and plot their escapes, surviving with a group of fellow eccentric prisoners, and as their friendship goes through ups and downs over the years and decades, Ray and Claude must find a way to keep their spirits up as they keep trying to find ways to get back to New York City.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (1 ):

This is a surprisingly thoughtful comedy, one that manages to address serious topics while still having moments of laugh-out-loud hilarity. Yes, Life is a buddy movie, and a buddy movie in prison movie at that, with Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence as the perpetually-bickering friends who are forced to spend over six decades of their lives in a Mississippi work camp (from the 1930s-90s), and still manage to maintain a friendship through countless ups and downs over the decades as the outside world and all its cataclysmic changes pass them by. It would've been a decent movie had this story been little more than a vehicle for Murphy and Lawrence to crack endless one-liners from one escapade to the next. But there's a serious side to this movie, addressing sadly still-relevant topics like wrongful imprisonment, racism, and homophobia. There's an unexpected empathy to these scenes that doesn't come across as forced or mawkish, and in no way slows down the comedy.

And it's a very funny movie. There's a scene near the end in which Eddie Murphy's character goes on a tirade about how cocaine is smuggled into the infirmary where he and Lawrence are supposed to be spending their last days that is flat-out hilarious. There's also a "meta" moment in the blooper reel that's amazing in and of itself. For a '90s comedy, much of the humor has held up, even as much of what is addressed is still, sadly, relevant. Maybe this will disappoint those looking for little more than an endless barrage of one-liners paired with slapstick, but for everyone else, the depth to Life is a pleasant surprise.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about "buddy" movies like Life. How is this similar to and different from other buddy movies?

  • While it's a comedy, the movie addresses more serious topics. What are these topics? Were you surprised by this?

  • How is this similar to and different from other movies starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence in terms of humor, story, subject matter?

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