Review of The Bucket List

Review of The Bucket List

A local TV and radio critic rated The Bucket List 1-1/2 out of 4 stars, and I can understand why. She's young and has no clue about life. But I found it interesting that my girlfriend’s fifteen-year-old daughter, who also doesn’t know squat about life, still enjoyed it. After all, that’s why we go to the movies. In my case, having seasoned veterans Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman in the same movie together was enough to get me there.

The Bucket List is a story about crusty-billionaire / hospital-magnet Edward Cole (Nicholson), and middle-class / working-stiff Carter Chambers (Freeman); two economically opposite, 70ish year-old guys with cancer, going on a worldwide jaunt with a list of to-do things for their remaining year of life. And after reading what the professional critics have to say, I’ve come to the conclusion their reviews are more about themselves, than the movie.

One element of reading or watching fiction is the suspension of disbelief, something several critics have failed to do. To hear some critics talk, it’s more of the same ol’ feel-good stuff director Rob Reiner is known for. Too bad they don’t feel that way about the preponderance of sex and violence on the screen.

This is a story of how a man burdened with a lifetime of regret, learns the meaning of joy from a man free of it. They join in making a list of things they want to do before they die. Cole’s ambitions are far above Chambers’ means, so Cole supplies the cash. And why shouldn’t he? All he has is money.

Among the obvious items like racing muscle cars and traveling the world and sky-diving (doesn’t everyone who’s dying want to sky-dive?), they include several life-enriching tasks such as seeing something majestic, doing something nice for a stranger, and kissing the most beautiful girl in the world. This last one doesn’t figure in until the end of the movie, and I’ll leave that in the air. Don’t let the critics dissuade you. That alone is worth the price of admission.

I was a bit disappointed in the first hour of the movie where the acting from both seemed contrived. The dialogue was bland and one could almost see the next line coming. It wasn’t until an hour into the movie that Nicholson decided to apply his award winning talent in a scene where Chambers tried to manipulate Cole into reconciling with his estranged daughter. It didn’t work, of course, and Cole left Chambers and his personal assistant (Sean Hayes – Will & Grace) standing in the street in front of said estranged daughter’s house. But in spite of the slow start, it’s still worth the money as it continues to its semi-logical conclusion.

I doubt The Bucket List will generate any Oscar buzz, but it’s entertaining and, at one point, delivers two soul-searching questions you will feel the need to answer yourself.

Go on, enjoy a night out. It’ll make for a pleasant evening.

2-3/4 of 4 Stars

Future review: Cloverfield

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