Eddie Murphy is surprisingly good is an essentially straight role in the late Ted Demme's derivative movie about two long-term prisoners, 'Life'. 'Life' rips off 'Cool Hand Luke', 'The Shawshank Redemption', and even 'Spartacus', as well as countless "buddy-buddy" pictures: original it ain't. It also paints a surprisingly soft picture of life in gaol, and the trick where after a brief montage of historic events, we're suddenly told that 27 years have passed only for an unchanged cast to appear, now hobbling, before us, seems a bit crude. The film is watchable and in places funny, but there's little to see that you won't have seen elsewhere.
Review of Life
