Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The Bucket List

“The BUCKET LIST” (Jack Nicholson & Morgan Freeman)

To all the critics who bad mouthed this movie – uh, what were you expecting another “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”? There is nothing wrong with this film – it is well worth seeing; it has a fair share of comedic moments as well as a few poignant ones.
Jack doesn’t ‘mail in’ his performance & Morgan’s narration isn’t ‘tiresome’ (Two complaints I read) I don’t think it will crack my top 10 list, but it is definitely one of my top 20 favorite movies of 2007.

Jack plays Edward Cole, an eccentric, somewhat cranky, multi-millionaire who runs ‘hospitals – not health spas’; so when he coughs up blood while defending his practices in a court of law, Edward finds himself a victim of his own rules – 2 beds per room – no exceptions.
Edward is forced to bunk with Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) an exceptionally bright auto mechanic. The fact that these two opposites bond is not a stretch as they share the same frightening diagnosis – they both have cancer; Edward is given 6 months to a year left, while Carter is told maybe a year or so.

Carter begins to write his ‘Bucket List’ – things he hoped he would accomplish before kicking the proverbial bucket. Edward sneaks a peek at the list, calls it ‘cutesy’ at first, but a moment later is adding his own wishes to the list.
So with Cole’s money and Carter’s smarts they decide to venture around the world looking for something ‘majestic’.
Sure, the skydiving scene is predictable & the car racing scene is a little ‘cutesy’, but this film, directed by Rob Reiner, walks the line of comedy & drama without going over the edge one way or the other.
Maybe it’s a film for us older folk (I’m 52) as both my wife & my dear friend Alma (I’m the spring chicken of the group) enjoyed it immensely.
Here’s a little personal side story; we’ve been planning to see this movie with Alma for months – but the day before we went, Alma emails me & says the reviews have been terrible, perhaps we should pick another film? My response was – who cares what critics think? I only care what I think!
So who do you think laughed the most & was wiping a tear from her eye at the end of the critically UN-acclaimed ‘Bucket List’ ? That’s right, Alma.
The thing about critics is – you have to get to know their likes & dislikes – which is what I try to do with my reviews. From the preview, I thought this had #1 potential – the bad reviews made me think – how is that possible, with two of my all-time favorite actors & that nifty premise? Well, the truth is – this is a very good movie that doesn’t deserve the trashing it’s receiving from the snooty ‘wags’. Maybe it isn’t for the ‘younger’ generations (not much for them to relate to in it) but this older guy enjoyed the watching the trip that Edward & Carter take around the globe.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

this movie make me tired. worse movie for jack. worse than the sandler movie. need to retir. no good anymore.

Anonymous said...

i thought this was missing something. that it could have been a little better.

Anonymous said...

Since I love Jack & Morgan, I was really looking forward to this - Then as it came out, critics were roasting it, so my expectations came spiraling downward. It's not as good as I was initially hoping it would be, but it isn't a bad flick by any stretch. But I agree with you, Eddie, it had a lot of potential that it just didn't quite live up to.

Lilithas said...

I have to object with the "younger" generation thing - my brother and I (20 and 18 respectively) both loved it. Yeah, there's nothing special about it, and it probably won't be considered a classic in 60 years, but it's enjoyable and pretty interesting at most times. It's definitely one of my favorites.

Though I hadn't heard anything about this movie before I watched it, so nobody had played it up or down for me before I saw it (which could be one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much). I didn't even know what the movie was about. The only reason I chose to see it was because of the Nicholson/Freeman pairing.

Terry R said...

I, in no way, intended to insult the younger generation, I was simply observing that it seemed the older the viewer, the more they seemed to appreciate "Bucket List". I must add, I was very surprised to learn that you are only 18 - You are exceptionally mature. Forgive my 'old man' views, but I was under the impressive that 'kids' today didn't know how to write sentences, or even words for that matter with everything seeming to be shortened to initials for texting purposes. I am quite encouraged that there are still young people in this country that can actually communicate intelligently.
On 'Bucket List' - it's a good film, but since Jack & Morgan are both among my Top 5 or 6 actors, my expectations were extremely high.