Justin Zackham

A well-made film with two excellent main characters. The idea of a 'bucket list' was invented in this film although the phrase is now very well-known. So much so that there now doesn't seem to be much story to this film: two terminally ill patients decide to do all the things they want to do before they die. And one of them just happens to be a multi-millionaire who can fund it.

Some amusing moments, but ti's hardly the 'hilarious' film described on the back of the DVD case. And while Morgan Freeman's character is very likeable, Jack Nicholson's (typically, perhaps) is brash, arrogant and pushy.

We nearly gave up watching in the first rather depressing twenty minutes or so but it did get better - it's an iconic film now, with the title phrase being so widely known, and I'm pleased to have seen it at last.

Longer review here: https://suesdvdreviews.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-bucket-list-morgan-freeman-and-j...… (more)

The Bucket List on DVD. In sharp contrast to Randy Pausch’s real-life account of the months following his diagnosis with a terminal disease, Hollywood’s version of the same situation involves dramatic adventures and a round-the-world trip. Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) and Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) are thrown together in a shared hospital room for an extensive stay resulting in a new friendship between the two and bad news from their doctors. Unlike the educator Pausch, who chooses to spend some of his precious remaining time creating and delivering a last lecture promoting life lessons and the successful fulfillment of one’s dreams, the billionaire Cole takes his new buddy Chambers on a self-indulgent fantasy of skydiving, racing cars and visits to the pyramids and the Taj Mahal.
The film’s strength is the chemistry between Nicholson and Freeman which makes this unbelievable story at least a little bit realistic. There is also an underlying message that happiness comes from finding balance between work and family and self. Advertised as a comedy-drama, the scales are heavily weighted towards drama with only a few interludes of comedic scenes. Overall, it’s a reasonably entertaining movie that might make you think about creating your own bucket list.

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