Grazer says, "Eddie came to me and said ÎLife.â Just a simple word. And I said ÎWeâll help. Weâll get a writer.â So we got the writers and Eddie started working with them, and their work eventually blossomed into this terrific script." Murphy adds, "The idea was a movie about two guys that went to prison for life÷a big prison escape film÷but with comedy." Grazer soon introduced Murphy to screenwriters Robert Ramsey & Matthew Stone, whose last collaboration was Destiny Turns on the Radio, the film they co-wrote and co-produced, who were immediately intrigued by the concept.
But for the screenwriters, the movie really began to gel once the decision was made to set Life in the South. "The Southern plantation style prison really gave the movie character÷two northern guys on a bootlegging run, stuck in a Mississippi prison," says Ramsey. Because Life is more than just a flat-out comedy, Ramsey and Stone wanted to ensure that the filmâs environment÷the prison÷was authentic as well. So they conducted enormous amounts of research at prisons throughout the South, during which time they learned many little-known facts about prison systems in the South. According to Ramsey, "The prison system was the largest income-producing state enterprise in Mississippi and there were a lot of innocent men who got sent there because they needed labor." Stone adds, "In Mississippi after slavery ended, plantation owners signed up for what the state called the Convicts Lease Program. You could arrest people and then the private enterprise÷a private plantation÷could take on the prisoners for the state and in fact, those prisoners would pick cotton. It was a modern form of slavery which continued and eventually became institutionalized." Once the story was in place, the producers set out to find the perfect co-star to partner with Murphy, and the role of Claude Banks was a difficult one to cast, as the role called for an actor with excellent comedic timing, but with a sensitive side as well. From day one, Grazer and Murphyâs first choice was Martin Lawrence. The star of the long-running Fox sitcom Martin and films like Bad Boys and A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Lawrence has previously starred opposite Murphy to raucous effect in Boomerang. Grazer says, "Martin matches well with Eddie. Eddie is aggressively, proactively funny. Whereas Martin is more funny when heâs being reactive, when people are pushing problems on him, or when heâs boxed in a corner and he needs to get out. Their comedy is different, but it matches up nicely."
Grazer says, "Ted really is an actorâs director, and Eddie and Martin needed a director that would let them breathe, let them try new things. Ted directs movies that are character driven and reality based." Demme had been looking for a new challenge himself when he was first approached about directing Life. He says, "This story was pretty different. What would happen if, obstensively, at a very young age you were behind bars, or any type of captivity and your life didnât change for sixty years, but everything else around you did?" Demme adds, "Then add Eddie Murphy, who I think is one of the funniest guys thatâs ever walked on the face of the earth. Plus Iâm a huge fan of Martinâs. They are both amazing." |
The idea for Life came to Eddie Murphy as he was wrapping up production on The Nutty Professor, the film which would go on to become a blockbuster hit for Murphy, Brian Grazer and Universal Pictures. He brought the idea to long-time collaborator Grazer, and the wheel was set in motion.
Stone says, "This movie spans the 20th century. It starts in the 30âs and moves into the present. Everything in the prison stays the same. It is the world outside that changes."
When it came time to find a director who could effectively balance the hilarious predicaments of the main characters while showing the deep bond these two men develop, Grazer immediately thought of Ted Demme, the talented young director who launched his career in the independent world.