I chose Life for my movie evaluation, as about half of the class did, so most of you know what it’s about, but for those who don’t I’ll give a quick summary. Two guys, Ray (Murphy) and Claude (Lawrence), who are from Harlem, New York, are accused of a murdered. Since it is 1932, they aren’t given a fair trial because they are black, so they are sentenced to life in jail. They have to adjust to their life in prison, learn to get along with the inmates, deal with the ruthless guards, and watch many people come and go. They attempt to escape a couple of times, but fail, and end up being in there for 65 years. I’ll leave out how it ends in case anyone wants to see it.
I have never been a big fan of Eddie Murphy; I’ve always found his acting in most of his movies to be over the top and just somewhat annoying. So I wasn’t sure how much I would like this movie, but I liked it more than I thought I would. I think this is the case because Murphy doesn’t play his typical “look at me”, comical character. He actually shares the main role with Lawrence, and he has some moments in the movie that are actually very serious. The movie is considered a comedy, but if you’re looking for a good laugh, I wouldn’t choose this movie. I didn’t think the movie was horrible simply because it was interesting, but I didn’t find it very comical. Yes, it did have its funny parts, but the fact that they were innocently given a life sentence in jail and had to spend their whole lives there was anything but funny. The overall movie wasn’t horrible, but if you’re Murphy fans and are in a mood for a comical movie, I wouldn’t suggest it.