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Critic Reviews
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For Life joins a growing number of series devoted to exploring wrongful conviction and the ordeal that convicts must go through to have their cases retried and verdicts overturned. But it stands out in two ways. First, unlike nonfiction series like Free Meek and Confession Tapes, For Life has the look and feel of an ABC courtroom drama. Second, it’s based on the life of a real-life person, Isaac Wright Jr., a man whose story is so incredible Disney+ should consider making a companion documentary or podcast. ... After two episodes of For Life, I’m in.
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Some of that nuance is down to Steinberg, who wrote the first three episodes, and to sure-handed direction from George Tillman Jr. and Russell Fine. But a lot of it has to do with casting, beginning with the steady, measured performance of Nicholas Pinnock as Wallace. ... The viewer is on Wallace’s side, of course, but so far the show doesn’t try to tell us how we should feel about his tactics, and that’s a winning strategy.
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"Life" is not a morality lecture; it is still easily watchable and enjoyable. But in a world with so many TV options, it's nice to get more than just comfort food from broadcast TV.
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Near the end of the pilot episode, after a long struggle full of twists, turns and several defeats, Wallace finally enjoys a victory. It’s a small one for him, but a bigger one for a fellow inmate. In that moment, “For Life” truly shines and makes Wallace’s journey one worth following.
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Of course, it all works because we're rooting like hell for Wallace, a man who's worked so hard to fix what's wronged him, and Pinnock is rock solid in the role, combining ferociousness with compassion. But knowing how far he's willing to go to get the justice he deserves is surprising when it's injected into the bones of what otherwise might be a standard drama.
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Has the feel of a high-quality procedural to us instead of a super-serialized prestige show.
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"For Life" limits Pinnock's range of expression to determination, frustration, anger, sorrow, and despair – all of which is understandable. Hope flits across his face a time or two, but otherwise he's trapped in his fury, bringing the audience right in the cell with him. And this also makes "For Life" an imposing emotional experience to process hour by hour, one that – regardless of how brilliantly its ensemble performs – may be tough to overcome. However, the narrative's toughness also works to the show's credit.
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[The female characters] keep the show percolating even as its core cases tend to feel, in the show’s first two installments, somewhat flat and unmotivated.
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It's enough to tentatively say that there actually is a version of For Life that could be quite solid. After two episodes, it's mostly there in hints and subplots.
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Pinnock’s performance gives a palpable, urgent quality to Aaron’s intensity as both a prisoner and an attorney, outraged at a corrupt system and longing to return to his wife (Joy Bryant) and teenage daughter (Tyla Harris). “For Life” is hampered by the formula of prime-time legal dramas, wherein the greater character studies lose out to the revolving subplots of cases, which can lead to a predictable tedium.