The Bucket List

Somewhat surprisingly, Rob Reiner’s film with its marquee casting, highly romanticized story and sentimental  realization placing it well within the comfort zone of mainstream American film, was on release generally poorly received in its homeland, if not for its casting then for its highly romanticized story and sentimental realization. Go figure. Yes The Bucket List is Hollywood but as much as the story is a rose-coloured fantasy, as an idealization of a fact we all must face, it represents something worth contemplating..

Morgan Freeman plays Carter, a motor mechanic with a genius for trivia, diagnosed with cancer who finds himself in a hospital ward next to Edward (Jack Nicholson), a crusty old bad boy who just happens to be a billionaire who owns a fleet of hospitals, including the one he finds himself in, that he runs on budget principles. Edward also has cancer. Yadda yadda yadda, the two seniors become chummy and when Edward learns about Carter’s bucket list, despite the protestation of Carter’s loving wife (Beverly Todd), realizing that they have less than a year left each, they devise a joint list and set about realizing it on Edward's money

Having unlimited finances is always a helpful device for scriptwriter and so a significant portion of the film is devoted to globe-trotting (in a private jet) during which the friends take in the Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, Hong Kong, the French Riviera and the Himalayas as well as going skydiving, smashing up a couple of vintage sports coupes and discuss the big and small things of life.

The uninspired conventionality of their wish-list is a little disappointing but heck, The Bucket List is a conventional  movie and really the only thing really at stake is the answer to the question "Were you entertained?"  In my case the answer is: "Yes". Neither Nicholson nor Freeman are challenged by their roles but they inhabit them comfortably, Justin Zackham’s script is well-turned and Rob Reiner keeps it low-key, never allowing the material to become mawkish, which could so easily have been the case.

The film’s editing is remarkably poor. For example in one scene Nicholson appears with spectacles then after a cut. without and most grievously when Edward and Carter fall out Edward tears up the list that later appears intact multiple times. What!  It's hard to believe but yes, it's true.

Taken as realism The Bucket List fails miserably but since when has that bothered Hollywood?  Taken as a divertissement it’s a not entirely ineffective sugar-coated pill, at least for those approaching the end of their days.   

 

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