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Two old men, Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) and Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman), both suffering from terminal cancer, meet each other in the hospital. Edward is an egocentric billionaire who has made his fortune but despite four marriages has nobody except his assistant, and Carter is a car mechanic with a wife he was faithful to his whole life and a big family which cares for him.
Edward is not very happy to have Carter as his roommate, but when he sees Carter’s “bucket list” - the list of things to do before you kick the bucket - he adds his own things and persuades Carter to come with him and do all those things, money is no problem.

The Bucket List is - absurdly - a feel-good dying-of-cancer movie, and it spares the audience any real fear of death, real despair and real agony, revelling in a hollywoodesque carpe diem mood instead. Edward and Carter have fun racing cars, skydiving, eating in posh French restaurants and seeing the wonders of the world, including the Pyramids, the Tadj Mahal and the Himalaya, discussing the meaning of life and death and flying around the world in Edward’s executive jet.
All that would be annoying if it wouldn’t be so much fun to watch Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman doing what they usually do (Nicholson showcasing his well-known selfish persona you can’t hate, and Morgan Freeman embodying the sage half-saint). But it’s not all fun, and even Nicholson’s atheist Edward is impressed by the Egyptian legend Carter tells him on top of the pyramid: When the ancient Egyptians died, their gods would ask them two questions at the gates of paradise: Have you found joy in your life? And: Has your life brought joy to others?
And if only a couple of the people who see The Bucket List will contemplate about this questions, and decide to do something about it, then this otherwise lightweight buddy movie/cancer comedy/road movie has achieved something.

The Bucket List movie trailer

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 4:33 pm and is filed under 3-star-movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.