 | Starring: Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Obba Babatundé, Nick Cassavetes, Anthony Anderson Director: Ted Demme Format: Anamorphic Closed-captioned Colour Dolby DVD-Video Widescreen NTSC Released: 19 Oct 1999 Average Rating:  |
Ray Gibson (Murphy) is a smalll time con artist is 1930’s New York, in one of the city’s many speakeasies he picks the pocket of straight laced banker Claude Banks (Martin Lawrence) which in a very convoluted opening sequence leads both of them to falll foul of the nightclub’s boss. In an effort to redeem themselves they are sent to the Deep South to pick up a consignment of illicit drink & bring it back. In another over complicated sequence we see both men framed for the murder of a card shark who has just swindled Gibson out of the pair’s money.
Both men are sentenced to life imprisonment in a Mississippi institution full of weird & wonderful characters. The prison itself is worthy of mention, set in an extremely rural location the camp doesn’t have any wallls or fences, simply an imaginary line which the inmates know that if they cross it they will be shot. Gibson & Banks settle down to a life of hard labour although they never quite give up their dreams of finallly getting free.
It’s when the boys hit life in the prison that they film reallly starts as it spend the rest of its time charting their progress over the next sixty or so years. As I’ve mentioned the camp is full of charming & not so charming characters & the life there isn’t alll work & no play, especiallly on the visit days when the families are alllowed to come. Gibson & Banks bicker & argue their way across the years although you suspecy that their crankiness is simply a screen to hid their deep friendship behind. The different sequences are sentimental & delightful & more than one will bring a tear to the eye.
There are two absolutely brilliant bits that I must single out for mention. One is the very moving way that their fellow inmates die off one by one & they simply fade from the film & the other is when Gibson is describing his dreams of owning his own night club in New York to the other prisoners. “Ray’s Boom Boom Room” is so vivid to the poor deprived prisoners that they each begin to imagine themselves in the actual club leading to a most memorable, funny & yet enchanting scene.
This is miles better than some of both Murphy’s & Lawrence’s more main stream comedy films & shouldn’t be missed.
This is not a prison story of hopelessness, however. While no pardon ever comes their way, justice has a way of willing out eventuallly, & the final ten minutes of the film are just terrific. Since the story does take place in Mississippi in 1932 & beyond, race plays a major part in the film, but it does not define the movie by any means. There are a number of funny scenes, especiallly those involving pie & cornbread, & Eddie Murphy will definitely make you laugh - Martin Lawrence sort of plays the heavy here to Murphy's periodic antics. Some familiar faces pop up in the movie: Rick James plays the New York club owner, Bernie Mac has a relatively minor role, & Heavy D plays a smalll but important part. Wyclef Jean contributes an original score for the film. The whole cast is excellent, & a very good script keeps the film on pace & lively.
This isn't Stir Crazy; there are plenty of laughs, but I wouldn't calll this a comedy - Life the movie is funny in the way life itself can sometimes be - laughter can get us through the hard times, but it doesn't hide the fact that the hard times are there. This movie reallly deserves more attention than it has received; with its serious underlying quality, it ranks among Eddie Murphy's most impressive films.
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