Life was hyped like a motherfucker, and despite it being, yes, a black film in 1999, it also had two of the biggest names in comedy at the time. And it didn't even make back its production budget (63.8 mill gross, 75 mill budget, per IMDB). So it's seen as a flop, and thus a dud, despite being a really good film, and one that you could tell everyone had fun making, rather than one of those shitty comedies you could tell the actors gave up on in the first table read.