Independent Films, Film Profiles

Once in the Life

Once in the Life is a 2000 movie written and directed by Laurence Fishburne. Fishburne adapted the script from his own play, Riff-Raff.Once in the life of drug dealing and organized crime, can anyone get out? During a brief jail stay, two half-brothers, who have rarely seen each other while growing up, connect. One of them, called 20/20 Mike because he can sense people nearby, concocts a scheme in which the two of them will steal drugs from young couriers. The heist goes awry when Billy, the junkie brother, shoots the victims of the theft. The brothers hole up in an abandoned building, and 20/20 Mike seeks help from an old cellmate, Tony, whom he thinks is out of the life. It turns out that they have stolen Tony's dope, and Tony's boss wants the two thieves dead. Is there any way out?