Mesa here wid a bigga ravue... Sorry Jar Jar flashback. Harry here with a review from that evil genius, MORIARTY. He's been on many missions but has been quite busy mixing chemicals and concocting elixir's to grow Semel and company a brain that only he can talk to. As you can guess, growing a brain in Semel's head is quite a feat and is taking a lot of his time. So for a break he went to a film called LIFE starring Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy. Now remember, this is an advance screening of a film that won't be coming out for a looooong loooooong time. BUT Moriarty is usually a very solid reviewer, so keep that in mind. Here ya go....

Hey, Head Geek...

"Moriarty" here.

It's tough being an evil genius and still having a social life. Recently, my work here at the Moriarty Labs has been keeping me so busy that I haven't had a chance to work my evil ways against my sworn enemies over at the NRG. Of course, I can't just let them go unchecked, so I ventured out tonight, surrounded by henchmen, determined to infiltrate a test screening -- any test screening.

One of the funniest things about the recent NRG screenings, for me, is when they make you fill out the little oath card that swears you won't tell anyone about what you saw. I call it the "Harry Knowles" card, since it didn't exist before your site did. Making someone swear something so ridiculous seems silly to me. After all, what are they going to do, throw me in movie jail? With this question on my mind, it seemed particularly apt that the film we managed to get into tonight was the first screening (that I know of) for the new Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence film LIFE, directed by Ted Demme.

I guess I should say up front that I don't like Martin Lawrence very much. Never have. I've always thought he was coasting, just phoning it in. Eddie Murphy, on the other hand, has been a major comic influence on me since the early '80s. I'm old enough to remember the rush during his first few years on the air on SNL, and I was a huge fan of his early film work like 48 HRS and BEVERLY HILLS COP. Lately, Eddie's been extremely hit or miss, and even his "best" recent films like NUTTY PROFESSOR are nothing compared to his glory days.

Walking into this film, I really didn't know what to expect. The cast, the premise, and even the director all made it a wild card. I figured it could be good or bad, and neither would surprise me. It's with a great deal of relief and even joy that I report that not only is LIFE a very good film, it could actually turn out to be one of Eddie's finest moments.

Could, mind you. There's some work that needs to be done. The film starts confidently, with the best first act I've ever seen in an Eddie Murphy movie. This is a real screenplay, concerned with creating real characters. Ray Gibson (Murphy) and Claude Banks (Lawrence) meet in New York in the '30s, where Ray picks Claude's pocket at a nightclub. This coincidental meeting brings both of them to the attention of Spanky Johnson (Rick James in a nice cameo role), a crime boss. The film's one really weak narrative link is how the two end up in front of Spanky together. It felt like there was a scene or two missing tonight. At any rate, they end up agreeing to go on a bootlegging run to the deep south. Right away, there's real chemistry between the two. Murphy feels more relaxed than he has in a long time here, and Lawrence (looking fairly fat and healthy following his couple of years in career exile) works hard to establish a character, someone who's genuinely different than him. With a few minor stops, including a very memorable stop at a diner with a "No coloreds" sign on the door, they make it to Slim's, where they pick up the booze. If they had just headed back out to New York right then, the rest of the film wouldn't happen. Of course, they don't, and the story really kicks in when Ray loses to a cardsharp played by Clarence Williams III. Through a series of unfortunate accidents, Ray and Claude are found standing over the dead body of the cardsharp, and they're arrested for his murder. After a perfunctory trial, the two of them are sentenced to -- yes, you guessed it -- life in prison.

Now, there's several ways Demme and the screenwriters (sorry, no credits, guys) could have taken this film. What they end up creating is a sort of comic SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, although this film isn't the triumphant achievement that one was. It's the story of how you survive, and what it will take to persevere over decades in prison. The story brings them from the '30s all the way to present-day, and the old-age makeup by Rick Baker is, as usual, outstanding. It's the performances by the men inside that makeup, though, that really convinces us as an audience that these are men who are watching their lives ebb away.

I must once again single Eddie Murphy out. With HOLY MAN, he's stumbled in his efforts to rennovate his career, but this film should finally answer the question, "Can he really act?" He's wonderful. He's funny, he's touching, and above all else, he's real. Maybe it's because Eddie's so good that Martin seems to have finally locked in on how to deliver a real performance. He rises to the occasion, delivering several classic moments throughout. The rest of the supporting cast is good, with Nick Cassavetes, Baba Obantube, Bernie Mac, Bokeem Woodbine, Ned Beatty and even R. Lee Ermey all doing very solid work.

So what's wrong? Why don't I give this film unrestrained praise? Because it's so close to being something better than "just" a comedy. With a little work, this film could be great. This next paragraph is directed at Ted Demme and Imagine, who produced the film. Don't let Universal lowball you guys. You've got something special here. What you have to do now is force them to work with you. Make it great. In the later half of the film, things move a little too quickly, and it leaves the film feeling unbalanced. I'd like to see more of the effect that a lifetime of imprisonment has on a man. In particular, I'd like to see the effect it has on these two men. There's a subplot with a watch that is okay, but it's not really what the film is about. If you're going to pay that off, pay it off. Show us why that watch is so important to Ray. Show us why Claude has to steal that pie. Let us see the lengths these two men will go to to hold on to that little bit of hope.

There's a scene near the middle of the film that is wonderful, when Ray is describing his nightclub, Ray's Boom Boom Room, to the other prisoners, and they're all imagining themselves at the club. Each of them has a role there -- the bouncer, running the dice, tending bar, singing, playing in the orchestra -- and in that one moment, all of these men are free. Maybe you can treat the scene in the middle of the film like the famous ball game sequence from CUCKOO'S NEST -- just let Ray paint the picture for us. Hold the actual image of the club until the end of the film. As the film stands now, there's no ambiguity at the end. Maybe you can leave things more up in the air... show us that last scene with Baba as he laughs at the two trustees, then take us not to a ball game in the real world, but to the club that Ray described. Set all these characters free in those final moments. You're so close.. why not let the audience and the film fly at the end?

Here's hoping Universal learned from HOLY MAN not to sell a more serious Eddie Murphy film as a wacky comedy. Here's hoping Universal gives these filmmakers room to make this thing great. Here's hoping audiences get a chance to see the very best version of this very good film. Finally, here's hoping...

Uh-oh... someone just knocked on the door. Someone's shouting something about Joe Farrell. I think I'd better cut this short if I don't want to end up in movie jail, after all. Until next time, Harry...

"Moriarty" out.