The Reel Rejects - LIFE (1999) IS HILARIOUS & SURPRISINGLY HEARTFELT!! MOVIE REVIEW!!

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Starting point is 00:01:36 We've just finished watching the movie Life, Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds. Wow, they were so good. They were so good. That's two black men. They did. I'm surprised how well they pulled that off, Aaron. Yeah, the really good blackface they did. Not offensive whatsoever.

Starting point is 00:01:52 Anyway, this was good. This is a really fun time. Definitely different than I was expecting. We have some Patreon questions. We're probably going to get to a bit here, but before we get it in there, we're going to take a look at our thoughts. We're going to examine our thoughts. Gregory, how's you feel, man? Looking at my life.

Starting point is 00:02:10 Looking at him. Wow. Can't say that one on camera. No. It's the movie, man. It's influenced my brain. The dialogue. That's all.

Starting point is 00:02:22 It's not enough. Not an opinion. This movie was a surprise. It was really surprising. I expected nothing but comedy. And it ended up being something much more nuanced. And so it's a clever title. You've got to respect a good title.

Starting point is 00:02:43 Yeah. Life sends the life. Watch these men's lives unfold. They grow together in friendship. the community life that they form in prison where it's not just a bunch of there's harshness but there's true relationships

Starting point is 00:03:00 that build and form I found myself immersed you know what I mean I really felt like I stepped into it with them it was not it's in a way it is slice of life in a more time-spaning kind of way

Starting point is 00:03:17 pretty big slice yeah as a giant piece of the pie life and the performances by them were incredible. Honestly, like, even though the makeup on Eddie Murphy seemed, it just looked like they put shit on Eddie Murphy. That was a problem with it, right? But in 1999, I think it's probably like, whoa, that's amazing, right? It's probably like absolutely incredible.

Starting point is 00:03:42 But we are watching this in 2025 were makeup in this realm. Granted, they don't use practical effects. They were near as much as they ought to. it's probably evolved to the point old man makeup is really hard to get down and yeah you were talking about the association with that but Eddie Murphy's performance was so good

Starting point is 00:03:59 that it sold it you know like Eddie Murphy's known to be a good dramatic actor nowadays too like we know we can pull it off so if anything Martin Lawrence was the one that surprised me wow this guy's actually really good at drama and I never associate him with drama

Starting point is 00:04:15 there must be some work he's done that's maybe flown over my head that I have just missed over the years but this was a surprise man this was a this was a nice surprise and it was it was heartwarming and a story about never losing hope at the end of the day never lose hope yeah so i was very moved by it and it was also wasn't hilarious but it was really funny yeah you know yeah because it's pretty dark for a lot of it you know in the first half I'm like, oh, they're a good job balancing it. And in the last half, it's primarily a really sad experience.

Starting point is 00:04:53 But never losing the personality of these two. It's really sad. Anyway, that's my thoughts. What were your expectations you kept saying? You said it was different than what you expected. So what were your expectations? And what did this movie end up surprising you with? Well, because both of them have a very prominent reputation in the comedy world

Starting point is 00:05:15 and both had made major successes on film and television for Martin's show and then Eddie Murphy with his comedy specials and other movies prior to this and SNL exactly I was expecting something that was more akin to what we know them for you know something that's really fast talking something with a lot of bits some that's just a thousand miles a minute of jokes and it wasn't that at all I think it found a way to be a story that featured comedy rather than a comedy that had a string line of a story and I felt like they did a really great job of that showcasing the passage of time making it feel believable not only in how they responded to their environment but also how their relationship grew and change grew and change over the course of those 65 years and I had no idea that this movie took place over such a large amount of time. And granted, the movie started off of telling us that. But I did not know that prior to this.

Starting point is 00:06:22 I knew that it started the two of them, certainly. But the fact that we got to experience that and got to watch just what it's like to see somebody try to still hold on to hope over the course of 60 years and how the world changes around them in that time and how I guess they, they deal with that i think that was a really really engaging story and it was really uh funny and sad to watch that middle portion of the movie actually like got me internally i was like oh wow this is real and it's really crazy how much people in the prison system endure but not only that but how tough it is to acclimate to the outside like we saw the the one dude who was sad that he was leaving prison and he ultimately decided to end himself via you know getting shot down because he

Starting point is 00:07:17 couldn't take the pressure of what it was like for the world to change in a place where you wouldn't think that someone that's like you know predominantly men and tough and who were there for vicious crimes would be a place to be more accepting of him than the world were it's so many more options but that's what he felt at the end of the day and yeah it was it was just really really insightful but also funny and I think they did a great job of you know when two actors who were that big you know one of them could have like this big ego about it or you know one of them wants more screen time than the other but I felt like between the two of them and them being the prime of their careers it felt really balanced yeah surprisingly yeah I felt

Starting point is 00:08:03 really balanced and and it's care for both these characters I feel like they work together really well and I think that's that's great I wonder if they have a good relationship I side of the movie i don't think i've seen them anything other than this together well it's said that eddie murphy was one of the lead producers of this so i imagine he sought out martin lawrence for this oh okay usually that's kind of the story that i hear like martin lawrence specifically sought out will smith for bad boys oh wow i didn't know that and i would imagine that's probably the case here okay because they he had done like coming to america with arsinio hall so i and he's done other buddy movies even did like

Starting point is 00:08:42 48 hours or Nick Nolte. There's probably some others I can't recall off the top of my head. So I think he understands the power of sharing the screen with someone and not just making it all about him. Because there were I feel like in the, especially in the middle chunk when it became like about the baseball time, a lot

Starting point is 00:08:58 more was lent to Martin Lawrence. Yeah. And there was where Eddie Murphy's character kind of took a little bit, he didn't take a back seat, but I felt like Martin Lawrence's character was more spotlighted for a good chunk of it. So it seemed like he was generous too with serving the story. Yeah, I fully

Starting point is 00:09:14 also the supporting characters were kind of took more of a front seat than Lawrence and their dynamic. And then yeah, obviously in the third act came more about them again. But I appreciated how generous they were with allowing their supporting characters to shine.

Starting point is 00:09:30 Yeah. Overall. And also fucking like production design on this is incredible. Really good for like a dromity of this scale. You know, I imagine, like, with the stars attached, makes a lot more sense. Yeah. But, yeah, it was, it was pretty awesome, man.

Starting point is 00:09:49 I really, I really enjoyed the hell out of that. It was a nice, nice surprise, I'd say. I did, too. Today is Tuesday, right? Today is Tuesday. Yeah. We got five questions. All right.

Starting point is 00:10:02 Five questions today from the patrons. Here we go. Nikki. son Risa Hey Greg and Aaron Life is one of my favorite movies I'd love to hear

Starting point is 00:10:16 your discuss the chemistry between Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence two powerhouse comedians did the roles slash portrayals

Starting point is 00:10:23 surprise you in any way Greg damn must elaborate further yes the part that surprised me

Starting point is 00:10:39 too from understanding how a movie works it's obvious that at some point these guys are going to be best of butts you know so that arc wasn't necessarily the surprise the surprise that happened for me is how well they handled the aging gaps you know they start off they had to really understand the three pivotal points that were out with the characters the journey of before and then the early stages of the prison, the first year, the 12 years later, Mark, and then the 28 years later, Mark. And I felt they really filled in the history on each one of those gaps where I didn't feel like I was missing something or I needed more scenes to see how their relationship form because you could see it in the dynamics, not just with them,

Starting point is 00:11:36 but also with the other inmates, like what you were talking about. again like no surprise that it is kind of odd that you know eddie murphy is really associated with doing a lot of characters of crazy makeup and then to see him do like a dramatic turn but martin lawrence i mean he does big mama's house but i feel like i've seen that movie isn't big mama's house he's pretending to be a big mom he's not actually he is and also he's not actually a big mom right no no yeah but he's also dressed up with other characters in his own show in the Martin show. Okay, yeah. I've never seen any of Martin. Great show. Class. Is it? Okay. Yeah. So I've never seen any of that. So that was probably that element of their performances that really surprised me. That's a, that's a hard task that you got to do and to not be so self-absordom. Like, let me just play an old man. Like it's still about connecting with your other performers. So I thought they did a really good job there. What

Starting point is 00:12:30 about yourself? Yeah, no. I think they did a great job individually. And the way they bounced off each other was really great. Because initially when the movie was first getting into it, I kind of made a comment earlier saying that, oh, I think Martin Lawrence is going to be like the straight one and then he's, Eddie Murphy's going to be the more comedic one. But I feel like they did a good job of giving them both comedic moments to really shine where I feel like they, in a way, I guess, broke from that stereotype of one has to be the serious one,

Starting point is 00:13:00 one has to be the funny one, and then the other one just reacting off of them. I feel like they did a good job before reacting off of each other. But yeah, I feel like the way that they were able to showcase, case, them how they change as individuals and how their relationship changed were also maintaining that sense of loyalty to one another, even though it was like, it was like there were an odd couple in that sense, you know, that Ray didn't want to give up Clyde and have to hold the gun for him. And then Clyde was trying to stop Ray from shooting the guy. So they,

Starting point is 00:13:37 even though they had that tension over that one period of their lives, they still had each other's backs, even if they weren't directly engaging with each other. Because, yeah, they were the only two people alive, you know, and they see that middle portion where all their friends either presumably die or get released from prison. You know, they're the constants. So I feel like the way that they showcase the elevation

Starting point is 00:14:01 and the transformation from where they started to them at the end, finally getting to go to the baseball game. was believable you even though this movie's under two hours you believe like yeah i believe these guys have been friends for their entire lives and that's a really a hard feat to achieve especially in something that's i guess labeled as a comedy but also one where we one know what these guys look like in real life and don't look like that with the makeup but um yeah it was a gamble and i think that they they paid it off well well said friends of the reach Jack Nation, I'm sure some of you already heard me talk about this.

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Starting point is 00:16:27 oh you were there at the iMac screening oh snap cool well i don't think you introduced your as Beast Games contestant number five, so who were you? But I wanted to ask you both this. So put yourself in their shoes. How would you have changed the outcome after receiving life in prison, I'm assuming? Would you stop being petty and work together on escaping or just giving up and enjoyed life,

Starting point is 00:17:00 what life you had left in prison? Knowing me. I feel like I would keep trying. I'd like to hope I'm the guy who would keep trying to get out. Keep fighting it. Do you feel like you try to escape or you try to find the legal way of doing it? First legal. Okay.

Starting point is 00:17:23 Then I would grow impatient and try doing the other avenue. Because if I get to a point where if I, I think I'm the kind of guy. Yeah, and like, this is pure imagination, of course. Yeah, you know, if anyone's ever been incarcerated, you're hearing me talking about like, you're full of shit, man, you really don't know. Like, I will gladly trust your assessment of me. The, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the rest of my life. I might die if I try to escape.

Starting point is 00:18:01 I'd rather just go that path and risk dying. because I would not want to stay here. Who knows? Maybe prison's better now. Maybe it's better, you know. Get in shape, take some classes. They offer a lot of good shit in some prisons now. Join a gang?

Starting point is 00:18:18 Join a gang. My community. Yep. I have natural leadership skills. I can lead a gang. Search your own. Absolutely. We're called the rejects.

Starting point is 00:18:28 Do a great job. If y'all get magic tattoos. What would you, how would you respond, you think? I don't know if I don't know if I. I would try to escape in the way that they did because I, you know, especially with how they framed it in the beginning where if you try to escape, we'll shoot you on site. Unless I was at a point where I was ready to die and risk dying, I felt like the fear of getting shot would prevent me from going out and try to do it like my own way.

Starting point is 00:19:02 Because then I feel like I'd be constantly paranoid that I was going to get locked up again. so i feel like i'd want to go about it every way i can legally and if that never worked i feel like i would find a way to adapt to prison life yeah find uh and maybe maybe maybe maybe find community you know find some some sort of hobby within there become a writer from prison it just yeah just acclimate uh from there but yeah and and hey if i get to a point where prison's so awful that you know we willing to to die in the face of trying to get freedom then yeah we're coming up with something elaborate where we're crossing every dot and doing all the teas and going to shovel ourselves out with a spoon and we'll get to the other side we're going to climb through some some shit

Starting point is 00:19:54 and we'll get to freedom and start a farm but um yeah i think that's how i'd answer that cool thanks for the question beast games contest number five appreciate you Jaden Rhodes This is easily Eddie Murphy's best movie slash performance I'm curious

Starting point is 00:20:12 if y'all feel the same or does his do some of his other movies stick out more? That's a good question I like Dreamgirls a lot but yeah

Starting point is 00:20:25 do you have any movies that stick out for being his best performances he has a lot of great movies I haven't seen Dreamgirls I have seen Dolomite is my name which is often credited to a lot of people

Starting point is 00:20:38 as one of his better term performances I guess I would say this is probably my favorite performance of his I feel like he from everything we've talked about and he still manages to keep the elements of Eddie Murphy that we love

Starting point is 00:20:56 while showcasing a different side that doesn't feel like it's costing the sides of Eddie Murphy that we really enjoy but I also saw past Eddie Murphy I saw just the Ray character that he was playing. Yeah. So I would say probably this is my favorite of, I know it's like his most iconic. I'd probably meet you on there, Jaden, as my favorite performance of his.

Starting point is 00:21:20 He did disappear into it. And you know what's funny? One of his biggest roles, the Nutty Professor, I've never actually seen those movies, so I'd want to watch them. Neither. Oh, hello. Look out, potentially. but yeah i don't know he's done donkey and you know he's been on obviously um s and l so it's it's tough he's has a lot of really great ones but my favorite performance is him in bowfinger have you seen

Starting point is 00:21:50 bofinger ever seen bofinger okay okay that's that's my personal favorite eddie murphy performance okay yeah but i would say this is a stronger like character performance but that's my personal He plays two people in that movie. And I will say that's where I would edge it out for my personal favorite. Okay. You know, I really loved him in the Beverly Hill Cops movies. He's so much fun and he's just so quick and clever in Beverly Kill's Cops One. Yeah, I'd have to give it to that one.

Starting point is 00:22:19 But, yeah, thanks, Jane Rhodes. Pierre the Reject. Hey, Greg and Aaron. Thanks for reacting to my childhood movie. Which other performances set out to you other than Martin and Ed? Eddie Erin who Oh definitely Bernie Mac

Starting point is 00:22:39 That was great I've never seen anything like this before And that was definitely a change of pace For what I expect from Someone like Bernie Mac and also booking Woodbine You know it was more subtle more subdued He's a really great actor

Starting point is 00:22:57 And I'm happy his career Kind of flourished on after this point But yeah I would say those two are the ones surprised me the most i'm used to seeing him play like tough guys yeah it's tough guys or quiet subdued guys have you seen uh have seen fargo he's really great the show the show far i've never seen the show now oh it's so good dude he's like i think he's in season two he's so good in it oh no i'm never seen the show but yeah i mean at the time i've seen him in anything he's good spider man is great yep that's it the only thing he's done

Starting point is 00:23:32 Yes, I meet you there. I don't know the actor's name. The other gay guy was great. There's a lot of surprising performances upon reflection. The warden surprised me. He was good. As someone who never really has the full turn. No.

Starting point is 00:23:51 But you could see these little glimmers of, I do kind of like these guys, but I'm still a racist asshole. You know? Yeah, you saw the glimmer of sadness. that they were leaving by him at that. Almost like he's resistant towards fully letting himself

Starting point is 00:24:09 actually connect to the idea that he cares about these people. Yeah, exactly. And Ned Beatty, the final guy who was actually sympathetic towards them. Yeah, that was really sweet. Yeah, he was really good. Yeah, there's a lot of great

Starting point is 00:24:24 supportive performances in this movie. I think they're all very good. But, you know, if we had to nail it down to one, that's a great transition Jay Rustin question is who is your favorite

Starting point is 00:24:40 side character in the movie would you have a favorite Bernie Mac he was hilarious and he was just his movements his lines what did he say

Starting point is 00:24:50 like I'm the peppy that murdered me that was so funny yeah I would say I'd have to go with with him he was great that's a hard one too

Starting point is 00:24:59 because that easily could have been the most a sketch performance of them all. For sure. And somehow a... Because at first when he was introduced, I was going, okay, I guess he's going to be like,

Starting point is 00:25:12 oh, you're the funny gay guy in here, you know? And it was funny. It was, but the movie had a different tone. So it is impressive how he adopted a tone, or adapted to the tone, as the movie adapts to the point where the other guy dies. And he does have that sad walk towards him. Like, oh, my God.

Starting point is 00:25:31 I just see him as a real character, not as a sketch. And you discovered where the cornbread line came from. Yeah, that was great. I've heard that my whole life and just now realize it was from this movie. And, yeah, it was worth it. I'm happy I got to experience that here. Yeah, man. I'm glad we got that on camera.

Starting point is 00:25:51 Me too. Forever! So you can forever watch it. For life. Awesome, man. All right. Do you have any final thoughts before we get out of here? No, I really enjoyed covering this movie.

Starting point is 00:26:04 Thank you guys for joining Aaron and I. And thanks, Royal Rejects, for submitting some cues. Yeah, all right, all right. We've done it. Guys, thank you so much for watching this video. I had a great time. I'm happy I finally got to experience life. I can talk about it with my family now.

Starting point is 00:26:24 Yeah, I hope you guys all have a great day. Thank you for sending you questions. Thank you for watching this video. We'll catch you guys in the next one. Duce us. Arc Raiders, a multiplayer extraction adventure video game set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. As a raider scavenging the remnants of a derelict world, you settle into an underground settlement. Hoping to thrive, you jump on the chance to start over.

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The Reel Rejects - LIFE (1999) IS HILARIOUS & SURPRISINGLY HEARTFELT!! MOVIE REVIEW!!

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