Life (1999 film)

Life
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTed Demme
Written byRobert Ramsey
Matthew Stone
Produced byBrian Grazer
Eddie Murphy
Starring
CinematographyGeoffrey Simpson
Edited byJeffrey Wolf
Music byR. Kelly
Wyclef Jean
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • April 16, 1999 (1999-04-16)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$80 million[1]
Box office$73.4 million[1]

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, in 1992). 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 reviews from critics. The film later found a strong cult following among Murphy and Lawrence’s fans, establishing Life as a cult classic.[2][3][4][5][6]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference mojo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "The Best Martin Lawrence Movies and How to Watch Them Online". CinemaBlend. April 25, 2022.
  3. ^ "The Underrated, Classic Buddy Comedy 'Life' Turns 21 Today". The Shadow League. April 16, 2020.
  4. ^ "Beloved Eddie Murphy Comedy Laughs Its Way into Netflix's Top 10 Charts". popculture.com. December 5, 2021.
  5. ^ "A Forgotten 90s Eddie Murphy Movie is Now Available on Netflix". Giant Freakin Robot. December 3, 2021.
  6. ^ Butt, Thomas (January 28, 2023). "'Life' Shows Eddie Murphy's Underused Dramatic Chops". Collider. Retrieved February 17, 2023.