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Once in the Life (2000)

Rate: 4
Viewed: 8/20

8/20: Having composed a play entitled Riff Raff in 1994 during his down time after being replaced by Samuel L. Jackson for Die Hard with a Vengeance, Laurence Fishburne makes his directorial debut and stars in Once in the Life.

Hoping to be the next Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, Once in the Life isn't a good movie. Stagy as hell, it doesn't have a big point to make, and the characters aren't compelling enough to care about.

Yet the acting from the two leads is decent. Laurence Fishburne has occasional moments of thespic brilliance. Titus Welliver sometimes steals the show with great lines. Yet what's supposed to be the meaning after all? No new ground is being broken here, folks.

Eamonn Walker is at best a TV actor; that's why he'll always be well known as Kareem Saïd from Oz. Gregory Hines, Michael Paul Chan, and Dominic Chianese, Jr., are useless. Secondary characters must help supply substance in order to improve the film more; if they can't, there's no need of them.

All in all, Laurence Fishburne has potential, but sadly, Once in the Life remains the only directed film of his career.

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