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Since 1995, any and all movies released with a prison setting have had a large stumbling block to avoid: being compared, and unfavorably so, to The Shawshank Redemption. Unfortunately, this is precisely what director Ted Demme attempts to do in his latest cinematic bomb, Life, starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. Ray Gibson (Murphy) and Claude Banks (Lawrence) are wrongfully arrested, tried and convicted for a murder they didn't commit. Sentenced to life in prison, hence the film's name, they bicker with one another and stand on top of empty soda bottles. Demme's direction is poor and he seemed very unsure of whether he wanted to create a comedy or touching drama; his efforts to do both at the same time were quite unsuccessful. To Demme's credit though, he managed to create a film with both Murphy and Lawrence that ISN'T funny, something that has got to take a lot of ability. I still can't figure out who told Demme he could direct.
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