Martin Lawrence

  • Bad Boys for Life (2020)

    Bad Boys for Life (2020)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Amazon Streaming, January 2021) Complaining about bloody violence and police brutality in Bad Boys for Life is complaining about what has ensured the existence of the film in the first place. It’s also going a bit too quickly on how this belated third instalment (seventeen years after the second film!) consciously corrects or at least questions the sadistic abuse that was so troublesome in the second film. Taken away from the clutches of director Michael Bay (who nonetheless has an amusing cameo as a wedding MC), this late-career film keeps poking at how men at the edge of fifty can be action heroes, and how the newer, smarter approach to policing keeps producing equally good results as the cowboy tactics of the protagonists. Or at least one of those protagonists, because if Will Smith remains the firebrand shoot-first cop of earlier films in the series, Martin Lawrence seems surprisingly reasonable as a cop in retirement who doesn’t want to get back to the chases and shootouts. But action cinema has requirements that mild-mannered protagonists can’t meet, and so it doesn’t take much for the series to go back to all-guns-blazing racing through the streets of Miami with increasingly baroque vehicles doing increasingly impossible stunts. Bay may not be conducting the Bayhem this time around, but directors Adil & Bilall prove adept at orchestrating action sequences in a good old-fashioned bombastic fashion, modern CGI compensating what live-action shooting can’t deliver. From a pure thrill-ride perspective, Bad Boys for Life is about as good as that kind of filmmaking gets, and the violence limits itself to blood rather than the sadistic humour of dismemberment that was prevalent in the previous film—a sure improvement at a time when far too many “comedies” and action movies go for horror-grade gore. Still, it’s the script that shows the most improvement: Underneath its coarse action-hero trappings, this is a film that keeps circling issues of age, legacy and retirement. Thematically, the Will Smith character deals with issues that are surprisingly similar to his arc of Gemini Man, albeit with a far happier finale. (We also, finally, get to deduce a halfway plausible explanation for his far-too-expensive lifestyle—spoils from narcotraficante undercover work early retirement!)  Bad Boys for Life will never be mistaken for a deep film—but it’s better than most action movies, features great interplay between the two leads and features some nice character work by supporting actors (with particular notice for the captivating Paola Núñez) creating an interesting “next generation” crew. Miami is once again at the colourful forefront of the action, and while the film can’t help but go to Mexico for its more sombre moments (echoing a problematic tendency for American action films exporting their heroes for overseas justice), it’s remarkably more open-minded than its predecessor, even at the expense of some obvious jokes. My admiration for the purely kinetic mastery of Bay’s work on the previous Bad Boys movies was always more-than-tempered by his gruesome disregard for human decency, but Bad Boys for Life goes a long way into correcting this structural deficiency. It’s far from perfect, but it’s not a bad watch.

  • Life (1999)

    Life (1999)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, April 2017) There is a big risky gamble at the heart of Life—the idea that you’d be able to create comedy out of a dramatic, even tragic premise: two innocent young men condemned for life in prison. Featuring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence, no less. How do these clashes of sensibility would play out? As it turns out, much of Life is indeed dragged in all directions. At the macro-level, it’s a sad story, but at the micro-level, it’s Murphy and Lawrence insulting themselves with R-rated profanity-laden dialogue. It’s dumb and sad and funny and silly and weighty in random measures. The production values are fine, and there are two or three sequences that float above the rest—the dream nightclub sequence is particularly well-handled, for instance. During much of its duration, Life feels unfocused, but it does attaint some of its sought-after poignancy late in its running time, as the impact of time becomes more visible on the characters. It’s at that point when we remember what life in prison can mean, and the opportunities stolen from the characters. Even Lawrence isn’t annoying during that segment, making this the high point of his acting career so far. It’s a brief, but affecting moment … and then the film kind of squanders it by going through the motions of resolving long-held conflicts, allowing the characters one last devious plan and ending on an improbable happy ending. Even in concluding, Life does try to have it several ways at once, and feels a bit weaker for attempting it. While the film is worth a look, it may be more for studying its flaws that appreciating its qualities.

  • Nothing to Lose (1997)

    Nothing to Lose (1997)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, October 2016) For some reason, Tim Robbins’s persona in my head has solidified as a bit of a semi-presidential intellectual at this point. So it feels surprising to see him ham it up in Nothing to Lose as an ad executive whose life crumbles to dust and is forced to ally himself with a disreputable quasi-criminal. The surprises don’t stop there: Martin Lawrence is almost likable as the motormouth criminal, which doesn’t reflect the unbearableness of his later performances. The rest of the film, though, plays almost on autopilot, with only a few surprises along the way. The first act chronicles how a successful man appears to lose nearly everything, while the second act shows him regrouping and the third taking vengeance against someone who has apparently wronged him. It’s familiar stuff, unimaginably contrived but moved along at a decent clip. Twenty years later, it’s potable but hardly revelatory—the social issues in allying a white executive with a black quasi-criminal film are nearly the same in 2016, which is depressing enough. At least there are a few laughs along the way. The soundtrack nearly feels like a time capsule at this point. While Nothing to Lose isn’t essential viewing, it’s not a complete waste of time either.