Once in the Life

Play trailer

Once in the Life

R

2000

1h 47m

Crime

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

28%

Tomatometer

25 Reviews

56%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

A gritty drama centered around brotherhood and friendship, "Once in the Life" is a realistic depiction of how everyday choices affect our path in life. It is a cautionary tale about making the wrong choices and the inevitable, tragic conclusion of an individual who is drawn to a life of crime - - once in the life, always in the life.

Critics Consensus

Once in a Life is a promising directorial effort by Laurence Fishburne. But the story is too conventional and similar to the many ghetto action/dramas that come before it.

Read Critics Reviews

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

01/01/2000

B

Talky in the best sense.

Go to Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

01/01/2000

2/4

Billy's meltdown provides a real-time reality check, but for most of the time we're waiting for the payoff, and when it comes, I'm afraid, it's not very satisfying.

Go to Full Review

Gene Seymour

Newsday

01/01/2000

In opening up his play for a filmed version, Once in the Life, Fishburne may have only succeeded in magnifying the flaws of his original.

Go to Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

07/17/2005

2/5

Jeffrey Westhoff

Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

08/16/2002

2/4

It reeks of staged theater: three men in one room talking endlessly.

Go to Full Review

Ryan Cracknell

Apollo Guide

04/09/2001

52/100

Read all reviews

09/24/2014

I Like the way it starts!

See more

@BlackCloud13 07/24/2014

Rotten blaxploitation trash. I paused and paid attention to the terrible dialogue for a moment and counted SEVEN "fucks" in two lines. That kind of writing is hard to watch.

See more

01/25/2009

Although my expectations weren't high for this movie coming in, I was still a little disappointed with it. I thought it was at least going to have more action in it but it didn't deliver on that. Just a lot of repetitive talking. Not worth watching.

See more

07/16/2007

Laurence Fishburne established himself as one of the most compelling actors making films today with simmering performances that command the screen. With Once in the Life, a tale of small-time crooks on the run from a heist gone wrong, he adds ...

See more

07/13/2007

excellent film but more like a play due to the pacing

See more

07/06/2007

This is Reservoir Dogs without the Diamond Heist set-up and the all-out hipster bullshit.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Laurence Fishburne

Director

Laurence Fishburne

20

Titus Welliver

Torch

Eamonn Walker

Tony

Dominic Chianese Jr.

Freddie Nine Lives

Paul Calderone

Manny Rivera

Traffic

93%

85%

Traffic

Watchlist

The Man Who Wasn't There

81%

85%

The Man Who Wasn't There

Watchlist

City by the Sea

49%

40%

City by the Sea

Watchlist

Animal Factory

83%

59%

Animal Factory

Watchlist

Empire

21%

62%

Empire

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

A gritty drama centered around brotherhood and friendship, "Once in the Life" is a realistic depiction of how everyday choices affect our path in life. It is a cautionary tale about making the wrong choices and the inevitable, tragic conclusion of an individual who is drawn to a life of crime - - once in the life, always in the life.

Director: Laurence Fishburne
Producer: David Bushell, Laurence Fishburne, Helen Sugland
Screenwriter: Laurence Fishburne, Laurence Fishburne
Distributor: Lionsgate Films
Production Co: Shooting Gallery, Cinema Gypsy Productions
Rating: R (Strong Violence|Some Drug Content|Pervasive Language)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 27, 2000, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 15, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $53.5K
Runtime: 1h 47m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround