While the story line of THE BUCKET LIST might not immediately thrill you, give it a chance, it's a warm and refreshing take on the road trip/buddy film genre starring two of our most talented actors.
THE BUCKET LIST tells the story of two men on the threshold of death, two men who will not go gently into the night. They have their "bucket list" to occupy themselves with and to do their list justice they must travel around the world.
In the THE BUCKET LIST we follow the stories of two men who couldn't be more different and yet couldn't be more alike. One man is Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson), who worked hard all of his life to build his hospital corporation into a Fortune 500 companyand ended up a millionaire. He is rich, privileged and white, yet poor in human interaction. The other man, Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) is a hard-working black auto mechanic with a devoted family and loving wife.
These two terminally ill men meet by chance in a shared hospital room after they are discovered to have terminal cancer. Both are given a few months to live. In sharing the room they become friends and together they decide to fulfill their every personal wish and desire before they die... or "kick the bucket"...their "bucket list."
It's a good thing one of them is filthy rich as they would not be able to complete anything on their list without a private jet and the special privaleged "rich pass" given to people around the world whose pockets 
are overflowing with green. Be that as it may, one must always remember that for film fiction to succeed, some strange things that would rarely ever happen in real life always have to happen in the movies to have successful plotlines.
A smart and snappy script by a relative newcomer Justin Zackham, helped along with generous servings of excellent editing by longtime Reiner editor Robert Leighton, support Director Rob Reiner's deft touch, though some - those who most likely have never experienced the death of a loved one - might think it schmaltzy. If you have had the unfortunate experience of seeing a loved one struggle to live after 
being given a death sentence then this film will speak to you deeply. Of course, having actors of the caliber of Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman in any film can elevate the work to its highest level.
With the help of Nicholson's personal pilot the two friends fly around the world in their own 
personal THE AMAZING RACE against time. They drive race cars, skydive, visit the Taj Mahal and the souks of Morocco; they climb to the top of the great Pyramid in Giza, they go on safari in the green veldts of Africa to shoot wild animals (thankfully they were unable to actually shoot a living animal and they simply shoot the elephant gun off in the air). Jack 
even caps his own personal bucket list off by kissing the most beautiful girl in the world. Together they visit hunting lodges and get tattoos, and they memorialize everything by taking photos in every location they visit.
What you might not realize when you see the film is that it was shot 
entirely on stages in Los Angeles, with a second unit going out on location to shoot the establishing shots that are seen (on green screen) behind them. You'll never know they didn't actually travel to all the locations, it's just an interesting tidbit you might not read about in other reviews. It's just one of many tidbits our audience was treated to by Rob Reiner, Jack Nicholson, and Morgan Freeman in a closed Q&A session after screening the film.
Seeing Jack Nicholson in person is truly a lifetime highlight for anyone. Seeing Jack do an imitation of Christopher Walken is almost beyond belief. Watching Jack enjoy himself and riff on various topics was an early holiday gift for this reviewer, who saw an advance screening of his new film way back at the beginning of December.
Truly Hollywood royalty, Jack Nicholson is better in person being himself than playing any character in any film. He's larger than life and actually sounds like many of the impersonations countless comics do of him. He's got a great sense of humor and was as relaxed as he could be while schmoozing the audience with tall tails about shooting THE BUCKET LIST... and anything else on his mind at the time. He had the packed insider audience rolling in the aisles and he talked to us just like we were all friend hanging out in high school.
Rob Reiner arrived first and commenced with a great imitation of Jack while we waited for the real thing to arrive a few minutes late. Once the audience noticed Jack striding down the aisle everyone broke out in applause. Jack grinned in enjoyment, he clearly likes having an audience. Belying his 70+ years he literally hopped on stage... and it was easy to see him come alive for the live audience. He sat back in his chair and cracked wise while we waited for Morgan Freeman to arrive.
Nicholson is truly larger than life. Once Freeman arrived things actually slowed down as he hadn't eaten and was eager to leave his promotional duties to enjoy dinner with friends. Sadly, this cut our Jack face time down... Nicholson could have gone on all evening. He was relaxed and ebullient and eager to talk and joke around and to the packed audience it felt 
like he could go on all night. When things finally ended a big sigh erupted from the audience... everyone had been captured by Jacks' huge spirit of fun and frolic.
THE BUCKET LIST is not a film that focuses on the final stages of life to bring you to tears; it's a film that celebrates life and you will experience joy, rather than sadness, at the films' close. Go see THE BUCKET LIST and then create your own list, you'll be surprised at what you learn about yourself... and isn't that one of the things that makes films so personal and so important to us all?
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Digital Dogs rating: A-
MPAA rating: PG-13 for language, including a sexual reference.
Running Time: minutes
Producers Rob Reiner, Alan Greisman, Neil Meron, Craig Zadan, Frank Capra III, Director Rob Reiner, Screenplay Justin Zackham, Music Marc Shaiman, Editor Robert Leighton, DP John Schwartzman, Actors Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Rob Morrow, Beverly Todd, Rob Morrow, Rowena King, Alfonso Freeman, Alex Trebeck
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© 2007 by Digital Dogs
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--- Digital Dogs is gather's Los Angeles Movie Correspondent ---
Digital Dogs' column, HOLLYWOOD POV, published every Thursday to Gather Essentials: Movies is an insider's look at the art, people, and product of Hollywood.
Digital Dogs is an opinionated writer, editor, and digital designer who lives and works in the entertainment capital of the world. DigiDogs' writes critiques, opinion pieces and news stories that focus on the business, people, and places of Hollywood. DigiDogs' unique film reviews are usually written well before a film's release date, and definitely worth the advance look at the films that influence the world.
You can find all of Digital Dogs' HOLLYWOOD POV columns by using the unique tag of "digidogs" or "hollywood pov." Keep up with Digital Dogs' other postings and Gather activity by joining their Gather network -- just click here - digitaldogs.gather.com - and select the orange "Connect" button on the left-hand side of the page. To see a complete listing of articles by Digital Dogs, click here.
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Comments: 27
We all share something in common... our lives could end in any moment - and that is completely out of our hands. What better way to celebrate your own life than by having a bucket list? Whether or not your list is completed it gives you a way to be accountable to your own wishes, dreams, and desires. Isn't that a good thing?
Thanks for a fine review, DD. I'm sure I'll catch this movie somewhere, sometime.
A lot of big stars, like Nicholson, can be an acquired taste for some. Often they just play a larger-than-life version of themselves rather than actually acting and that may be what some peeps are objecting to w Jack (and I find this is a problem w lots of actors, regardless of their age). Early on in his career Jack was a great actor, but - even though I like him - as he's gotten older I think he's gotten a bit lazy and is now just playing roles that are a larger/different version of himself. Either way, he definitely can be an acquired taste for a lot of peeps. For me, seeing him schmooze w the audience like we were all sitting in his living room was the highlight of the evening. But this is a film worthy of your movie bucks, so do give it a chance!
> " I like your point about it being a "good thing that one of them is filthy rich"
It always bothers me that people in films seem to live much better and more charmed lives than us real people. Even when I understand why a plot device was used in a film, it can still serve to cheapen the results. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. In BUCKET LIST it worked for me since the whole film was a big trip and it wasn't hard to look past the cheaper plot points.
And yes, Reiner did a great Nicholson, and Nicholson did a great Walken. It was truly a great time, often these Q&A's can be quite boring... but not this time. I just wished Morgan Freeman had kept his mouth shut so the Q&A could've gone on longer.