The Bucket List
Have you made out your list? No, not your shopping list or the day’s to-do list. I'm talking about the most important one, "The Bucket List". Come on now -- you're never too young or too old to make your bucket list. Read on for an explanation.
The very versatile actor Morgan Freeman plays Carter in this new film. He's a blue-collar auto mechanic, but with enough smarts to answer questions quickly and correctly on the TV game shows he watches. His medical check-up doesn't go as planned, and he checks into the hospital for more tests. He meets Jack Nicholson, cast as Edward, a wealthy medical facility owner who has checked in to his own hospital, where the policy is "two to a room" no matter who you are. The banter begins, and continues when they both receive the startling news that they are terminally ill. Carter begins his journey into eternity by writing down a list of the most important things you HAVE to do before you “kick the bucket”.
On the surface, their situation would seem to lead to a story laden with sadness and grief. Instead, writer Justin Zackham and director Rob Reiner have skillfully crafted a clever comedy that is a celebration of life and friendship, along with a positive look at the mortality we all must face someday.
While in the hospital, Edward finds the crumpled up bucket list on the floor. Carter had started the list as he fantasized and pondered what he wanted to do before he died, but had thrown it away. Edward wants to know what the list is about. Embarrassed, Carter at first resists but finally explains what “The Bucket List” is. Edward is enthusiastic about the idea. Their pairing would be a match made in, in…well, something other than heaven since that is not a concept embraced by Edward.
In any case, Edward has plenty of money but no friends or family. Carter is rich in family but has spent his life as a 'grease monkey,' while missing out on the dreams he was not able to pursue. Edward seizes the opportunity and sets upon revising and adding to the list. He tells Carter to not worry about the money and the reluctant roommate finally succumbs to Edward’s entreaties. Carter’s mystified and worried wife, Virginia, played with strength and compassion by Beverly Todd, has no choice but to accept Carter’s decision to go off with Edward to pursue their joint wishes.
The playout of the list and the travails experienced by Edward and Carter are hilarious. Yet the story has an underpinning of a building friendship and the sharing of a final life’s odyssey. They travel the world to satisfy unfulfilled desires, ultimately returning home to settle important issues remaining there. We could point up some of the film's flaws. Antiquated rear screen projections of the travel destinations are noticable, but for me, the film works well enough here.
So that’s it. You now more or less know the whole story. Yet without Nicholson and Freeman to put some meat on the bones, you could miss it all. I found this dark comedy funny, thoughtful, and ultimately uplifting. See it for yourself. Go and enjoy “The Bucket List”.
I'm giving it an "A" on Ellen's Entertainment Report Card.
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MPAA: Rated PG-13 for language, including a sexual reference.
Runtime: USA: 97 min
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Color
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Ellen Kimball is a pioneer talk show host - one of the first women to host her own four-hour daily AM radio call-in talk shows in both Miami and Boston. Ellen and her husband Al are now retired in Oregon where they have resided since 1998. Ellen contributes a weekly interview program, as well as her reviews on film, books, and theater, to Portland's Accessible Information Network, which is heard locally in Oregon and southern Washington and on the Internet. 
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