Director Ted Demme (Jonathan's nephew) follows his terrific crime-thriller Monument Ave. with this sporadically entertaining Eddie Murphy-Martin Lawrence vehicle, that takes a light-hearted look at Mississippi prison life spanning many decades.

Murphy plays a pick-pocket who crosses paths with the straight-laced Lawrence. The two become unlikely friends when they are framed for murder and forced to serve a life sentence.

Life tries to be a sort of Grumpy Old Men in Shawshank. Thankfully, it's better than the Jack Lemmon-Walter Matthau flick, but doesn't come close to the power of Shawshank, nor does it try. Instead, Demme just tries to give the audience a good time and for the most part, the film is surprisingly watchable.

Murphy delivers most of the jokes, but Lawrence actually steals the film with a very subtle and restrained performance. There are some great supporting performances from Bernie Mac, Ned Beatty, and R. Lee Ermey.

If Life has a downside, it's a screenplay too full of holes. The long term friendship that forms between Murphy and Lawrence is not completely apparent. It's as if chunks of the storyline are missing. Still, it's a good time with some fun dialogue, a breezy running time, and some great make-up from Academy Award winner Rick Baker.