Movie Review: The Bucket List

Starring:
Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Beverly Todd, Rob Morrow, Alfonso Freeman

Director:
Rob Reiner (When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men)

MPAA Rating:
PG-13 for language, including a sexual reference.

Release Date:
January 2008

Synopsis:
When corporate mogul Edward Cole and mechanic Carter Chambers wind up in the same hospital room, the two terminally ill men bust out of the cancer ward with a plan to experience life to the fullest before they kick the bucket.

My Two Cents:
Academy Award winners Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman team up for the first time in The Bucket List, a moving story about two terminally ill strangers who live more in their final months of life that what others live their entire lives.

Like fine wine, these actors keep getting better with age. Watching them perform and interact is a complete treat and could probably make any movie worth watching regardless of the plot. Neither Nicholson or Freeman steal the show because both actors have about the same screen time and bring as much to the table.

Edward Cole (Nicholson) is a business savvy billionaire used to the good life, but lacking in spirituality and family values. Carter Chambers (Freeman) is a hard-working mechanic, a loving husband and father or three. Both of their lives get turned upside down when they are diagnosed with cancer and are given only months to live. Treated in the same hospital, which Cole owns, they bond and become friends. Carter had started making a “bucket list” of things he wanted to do before he died, but had discarded the idea after the doctor told him he would not survive his lung cancer. Edward convinces Carter to go ahead and complete the list and go and do everything in it. With Edward’s fortune and Carter’s list they bust out of the hospital and travel the world together. After visiting the Great Pyramids in Egypt, walking around the Taj Mahal, and crossing the Great Wall of China in a motorcycle, Carter realizes the greatest moments in life are spent with family.



The story is profound and will move you to tears as well as laughter. Everyone has lost a loved one to cancer and dealing with this subject is never easy. Yet you realize not everything is lost. At one point Carter asks Edward is he has lived a joyful life, and if he has brought joy to others. You have to wonder about this yourself. Even Yoda said not to mourn the loss of one who has gone back to The Force, and actually be happy about it. It’s not a matter of how much time we have in this world, but what we do with the time that is given to us. I can’t think of better actors to bring this story to life. Watch the movie and then go hug all your friends and family members.

Score: