Two men in 1930s Mississippi become friends after being sentenced to life in prison together for a crime they did not commit.
Acting
Murphy and Lawrence's decades-spanning chemistry
Writing
Balances crude humor with genuine historical horror
Direction
Ted Demme's tonal tightrope walk
Director
Ted Demme
Eddie Murphy
Rayford Gibson
Martin Lawrence
Claude Banks
Obba Babatundé
Willie Long
Nick Cassavetes
Sergeant Dillard
Anthony Anderson
Cookie
Barry Shabaka Henley
Pokerface
Brent Jennings
Hoppin' Bob
Bernie Mac
Jangle Leg
Miguel A. Núñez Jr.
Biscuit
Michael Taliferro
Goldmouth
Guy Torry
Radio
Bokeem Woodbine
Can't Get Right
Ned Beatty
Dexter Wilkins
Lisa Nicole Carson
Sylvia
O'Neal Compton
Superintendant Abernathy
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film was shot at the actual Mississippi State Penitentiary, with real prisoners as extras.
The Parchman Farm setting references real blues songs about the notorious prison, grounding the comedy in documented Black suffering.
US
