Movie reviews: The Bucket List

I have enjoyed Jack Nicholson’s work ever since he grabbed that leather football helmet and went for a ride with Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in “Easy Rider”. Morgan Freeman is just as brilliant and enhances every film in which he appears. If you can put the two together in one film, you have the potential for something very special to happen. Nicholson and Freeman come together in Rob Reiner’s “Bucket List”.

This film opened Christmas Day in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto, but only arrived everywhere else January 11. I saw the trailer and I was intrigued. I wanted to see what those fans in the preview cities had to say about the show. Generally, the fans loved the movie, but at least one critic, (Kevin Crust of the L.A. Times) was not very impressed. With that split decision leaving this movie up in the air, I decided to see it for myself and decide if the bucket was “half empty” or “half full”.

The story is about two elderly men, (Carter Chambers played by Morgan Freeman, and Edward Cole played by Jack Nicholson), from different life backgrounds both contracting cancer and ending up in the same hospital room. A friendship bond develops between the two and, after they both learn they have only a few months to live, they decide to spend their final days on Earth together checking off items on a list of “things to do before kicking the bucket”, their “Bucket List”.

If you watch the trailer, you get the idea that this is a fun movie about two guys living it up with the short time they have left to live. Some of that happens, or they would not be able to put it in the trailer, but it is only a small part of the movie. The biggest part of the movie is about the philosophy of life and how we all need to “find the joy in our lives” every single day. The idea is that climbing Everest, seeing the Pyramids or doing any number of exotic things is OK and fine, but it is still a bit selfish and shallow. If you are able, you should still do those things, but some of the more important things on the bucket list may be the little things that are easier to accomplish, but seem insignificant in comparison. The little things are things such as rekindling lost friendships, doing something nice for a perfect stranger, or bringing joy into the life of another.

The movie spends too much time at the beginning developing the characters while they are still in the hospital. Then, when they finally set out to start the list, the movie runs through that part too quickly. As I watched the movie and thought about the trailer, I was starting to get disappointed, but then it all came together in the final minutes of the film. Nicolson and Freeman are not great in their parts, but they are good. All of the acting in this movie is well done. Reiner, does a fair job of directing, managing to keep audience attention even through the slower parts, and pulls it all together in the finale. The whole theatre went silent and I am certain more than a few guests were moved to tears. Jack Nicholson as Ed Cole says, “This is not supposed to be fun” and he is right. You think you are going to see a fun, crazy movie, but, instead, you get a reminder of your own personal mortality and leave wondering about what should be on your own bucket list.

This movie gets an “A”. Go ahead, see it, and start thinking what should be on your bucket list. Try to find the joy in your life.

Just the facts:

Rating: PG-13, Run Time: 1:37, Director: Rob Reiner

Main Actors: Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes and Rob Morrow