The Bucket List

Good movie.

The Bucket List_360P

best movi mad cry

'Bucket list' explores the old theme of the 'things you want to do before you die'. The theme is no way deeper than, say, 'what would you do if you had a couple of million dollars' or 'what would you do if you had only one more day to live'. In fact, The Bucket list finds a way to combine the two. Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) owns the hospital he gets to be in after being diagnosed with cancer. His roommate Carter Chambers (Freeman) is a middle class Auto mechanic who, as it turns out, is faring no better. Both men are told they have approximately one year left to live, at best. After this the men decide to draw up a list of things they have always wanted to do but never did. With entries like 'race a shelby Mustang and 'kiss the most beautiful girl in the world' the two men set out to fly around the world to achieve all the entries on the list. The film is really nothing more and nothing less than what the tagline describes and often feels a bit schmaltzy in it's deliverance. Both Freeman and Nicholson give away ample performances but the real chemistry between them I hoped to see fails to emerge due to the often slightly ponderous script. The story could have easily been more insightful if the writers had chosen not to let the men pursue such soapy theme's like Nicholson looking up his long lost daughter. Then again, real life usually is pretty soapy, isn't it...but I digress... That said, there is absolutely nothing wrong in bringing this one home for a view. It just could have been a lot better. 6.5/10

This film has two or three things going for it: a nice theme of people doing what they've always dreamed of doing before they die, and Jack Nicholson doing his thing. It also has some pretty scenery and a good sidekick to moan a bit at Jack. Other than that, the film is a formulaic Hollywood piece of garbage with a terrible script. Starting with Morgan Freeman's role, which we've seen many times before, this time so filled with saccharine and political correctness--he knows everything, his children are perfect, he's faithful (to a fault), but hes a frustrated mechanic who always wanted to be a history prof., etc. Freeman walks through the part with not much realism--just another paycheck as the token good Black man for the LA moguls' purposes. Nicholson is good at times, but his role as a corporate hospital wheeler dealer is not believable in the least. There is not one bit of dialog that rings true. If they could have shortened the hospital scenes considerably and had them really do some meaningful adventures with some real emotional depth, then the film could have been tolerable. As it is, it made me sick. The question is how could anyone like it? Go figure.

You know that movie where Morgan Freeman is the dignified black man who helps some messed up white person become a better human being? You know that movie where Jack Nicholson is a jerk with a heart of gold with a nugget of jerk at the center? Put all 50 of those movies into a blender with a dash of brain cancer and a not so surprising surprise ending and you have Bucket List. If you're not tasting bile in the back of your mouth right now, you should click over to Fandango and get your tix. There is no in between. I felt it to be the worst kind of made by committee corporate dreck, but I've been moved to laugh and cry at movies that could be described the same way. I loathed it, but can see what is appealing about it to others. It's important to understand what you're getting into before you shell out two hours of your life for it, that's all I'm saying.

"The Bucket List" is certainly a sentimental favorite that as a viewer touches your emotions and has you hoping for finding a friendship in the end, even though the film is funny and somewhat unrealistic. The performances from Jack and Morgan as expected are top notch, and I personally like Rob Reiner's direction of showing how an unlikely and odd friendship develops between two guys on their way out of life by doing the things they've always wanted. The "Bucket List" in many respects is a good happy fairy tale that most ordinary folks would dream about before they die, yet the character types played by Nicholson and Freeman make it so believable. Jack Nicholson is billionaire hospital CEO administrator Edward Cole who as a grumpy and aging four time divorced playboy finds he has terminal cancer. With Freeman a character that's much different a blue collar working class auto mechanic named Carter Chambers who's a loving family man with a wife and kids and on the side a beloved history buff and trivia enthusiast yet he discovers his fate of having terminal cancer. Upon meeting in the same hospital room they share at first it's a cold and tough bonding only later to grow into a friendship by journey and discovery. The concept is thought up by Chambers by making a list called "The Bucket List" of things to do before we die. Oddly opposites agree the journey starts. The adventures include the heart pumping sky diving, auto drag racing, and trips to exotic locations and foreign countries. Many scenes like the mountain tops and pyramids seem unreal, yet are carried on by the witty and funny lines from Jack's character. Most important aside from the journey and discovery of friendship and caring by travel and adventure a special bond is formed. Each has learned before they meet the end they have made each a better person that cares they both found what's important in life thru one another. "The Bucket List" isn't really a tear jerker, yet it's story of two terminal cancer patients provides the need for compassion as the viewer feels pain during the early scenes and you are certainly touched by the way the characters emotions grow by friendship you as the viewer feel your emotions have taken a good friendship journey. Finally this film is made even better by the performances of the two veteran legends Nicholson and Freeman. I highly recommend anyone view "The Bucket List".

Greetings again from the darkness. Yes, this can be viewed as Hollywood formula with mass appeal and loads of stereotypes and clichés. On the other hand, it can be taken as a very accessible commentary on friendship, companionship and finding the joy in life. I prefer the latter. Either way, it does require a certain suspension of reality. Just ask Roger Ebert, who has made it his personal mission to bash the film. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are both in prime form, and after a string of weak films, director Rob Reiner does a masterful job of keeping Nicholson from going over the top and from having Freeman kill us with sweetness. Even more impressive is the pacing of the early hospital scenes ... nothing is forced, no line of dialogue or shot seems hurried. This is two patients coming to grips with their situation. While the worldly travels are impressive, my favorite parts of the film are the scenes between the two beds in the same room. On the downside, will someone please tell Hollywood that Morgan Freeman in the cast does not mandate a blasted voice-over from the man? We know he has a great voice, but if the narration adds nothing to the story, please just let the film do its thing. There are some laugh out loud moments and one-liners, but there are also some strong moments of drama ... death has a way of creating those. This is a combination of road trip, buddy film and coming-of-age ... very unusual for two senior citizens! So while the story line surprises are few, sit back and enjoy excellent acting (including Sean Hayes), wonderful direction and a few life lessons. Good stuff for a movie that all ages can enjoy.

"The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young." Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Now and then I should rethink what I've been learning all these years as a critic because I predicted The Bucket List would have all kinds of holes in it. It did, but they were tiny blemishes in an otherwise solid frame. This is a good movie, as much silly as serious. And therein lies the skill of director Rob Reiner, who makes sure Jack doesn't kill the lines with bluster and Morgan doesn't drown them in vocal sweetness. Edward (Nicholson) and Carter (Freeman) meet in hospital where they have been given less than a year to live because of cancer. They bond, create the "kick-the-bucket" list of ten things to do before dying, and then do them. The hokey process shots at several of the world's wonders indicate the surety of Reiner's direction where he evokes the old Hope and Crosby road pictures and emphasizes that the journey is the important thing, not the destination. Both men laugh and cry and change in subtle ways that make this not a maudlin exercise in death denial but rather a celebration of love through friendship, regardless of the grim future. Although Justin Zachman's script is overall weak given the actors' worth, there are lines that save it all from mediocrity: As Edward the cynic says, "We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round." As Carter the humanist says, "You measure yourself by the people who measure themselves by you." The two philosophies, fate and love, caress in a slow dance to recognition of life's true value. The Bucket List is not half as sappy as I sound so far; it is a sober rendering of life's lessons at the end by two different men who find their common humanity.

A simple premise done magically is all I can say about this movie. Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson are by far and away two of my favourite actors. Jack Nicholson is just funny, no matter what he says or does, ever since Terms of Endearment he has made me laugh so hard that I cry and Morgan Freeman is just the best actor going around. I find it hard to remember a bad movie that he has done. Probably not everyone will like this movie but it is definitely up there with the best feel good/sad movies that I have seen....and it has a moral that most of us miss in our hectic, live for the now short lives. This is going to be up there with the best at the Oscars in 2008. It will make you laugh and cry all at once...it did me.