Life

Life is a 1999 American buddy comedy-drama film directed by Ted Demme. The film stars Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. It is the second film featuring Murphy and Lawrence together, the first being Boomerang. The supporting cast includes Ned Beatty, R. Lee Ermey, Obba Babatundé, Bernie Mac, Anthony Anderson, Miguel A. Núñez Jr., Bokeem Woodbine, Guy Torry, Michael Taliferro and Barry Shabaka Henley. The film is framed as a story being told by an elderly inmate about two of his friends, Ray (Murphy) and Claude (Lawrence), who are both wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Makeup at the 72nd Academy Awards. Life failed to meet the studio's expectations at the box office, and received mixed reactions from critics. The film later found a strong cult following among Murphy and Lawrence’s fans, establishing Life as a cult classic. Plot In 1997, at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, elderly convict Willie Long tells two inmates his friends' life story at their burial. Ray Gibson and Claude Banks, New Yorkers from different worlds, meet at a club called Spanky's in 1932. Ray, a small-time thief, picks Claude as a mark. Ray convinces club-owner Spanky to let him and Claude pay off their debt via boot-legging. Traveling south to buy Mississippi "hooch", they pay for the booze and enter a local bar. Ray loses his father's prized pocketwatch to card hustler Winston Hancock. Outside, racist sheriff Warren Pike kills Hancock, framing Ray and Claude. Ray and Claude are given life sentences, with hard labor at an infamous prison camp called Camp 8. They immediately run afoul of the guards, Sergeant Dillard and Hoppin' Bob, and also meet fellow inmates Jangle Leg (who makes a pass at Claude), Willie Long, Biscuit (another homosexual inmate, involved with Jangle Leg), Radio, Goldmouth (a bully who picks a fight with Ray, but befriends him afterward), Cookie the chef, and Pokerface. Claude's cousin, an attorney, unsuccessfully appeals his conviction and seduces his girlfriend (who’s grown tired of Claude’s selfishness). With no chance at freedom, Claude and Ray break out, getting as far as Tallahatchie before being captured. In 1944, twelve years later, Claude and Ray meet young, mute inmate "Can't-Get-Right", a talented baseball player who is sighted by a Negro league scout who offers a pardon to play. Sensing an opportunity for freedom, Ray and Claude introduce themselves as his handlers.