Life

Harlem hustler (Eddie Murphy) and rookie bank teller (Martin Lawrence) get sent to prison for a murder they didn’t commit while making a Mississippi bootleg run in 1932. Over the next six decades of escape attempts and misadventures, they grind on and bind to each other much like real brothers. This sentimental, comic yarn about the many shades of friendship sputters at times as its chain gang vignettes are softened with country club camaraderie, but the film’s two stars strengthen their grip on the picture as they age under the special effects of Rick Baker.