In spite of all the references to ‘kicking the bucket’, The Bucket List is as much about dying as A Clockwork Orange was about oranges or One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest was about cuckoos. The movie is all about living, whether it is for 80 years or just a few months.
Multi-millionaire Edward Cole (Nicholson), finds himself sharing his hospital room in the cancer care unit with a working class mechanic Carter Chambers (Freeman). Over the course of their treatment, the two men — as different as chalk and cheese — fall in love with each others’ eccentric outbursts and senile tantrums.
When both learn that they have about a year to live, they set about making a Bucket List — a list of all the things they want to do before they kick the bucket. They go skydiving, race Mustang Shelby cars, have tea atop Egypt’s pyramids, and have dinner in the South of France.
But the list is not just about sightseeing; in it are their deepest wishes, especially the things they have always wanted to do or say before it’s too late. When Carter finds his relationship with his wife of 45 years strained, Edward puts him on the right path.
In turn, Carter helps Edward reach out to his estranged daughter. They try to learn how to give meaning to all the decades they have lived, and live the rest of their time meaningfully.
The legends Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman will have you reaching for the tissues again and again. There won’t be a dry eye in the house, whether it is from crying or laughing.
They execute the simple and succint screenplay with such ease that you’re left spellbound. Just when you think things are getting uncomfortably serious, either Nicholson makes a wisecrack or Freeman makes a mickey out of him, and you’re laughing helplessly at the two men’s ability to live stress-free. But things don’t get too frivolous, the duo share a bond that goes beyond just fun.
Kudos to director Rob Reiner for bringing out the love between these friends so subtly. He has picked his actors well, and the movie would be just as good if there were no other actors in it. Nevertheless, Sean Hayes plays the part of Edward’s acerbic-yet-loving assistant beautifully. No sign of the gay Jack McFarland, he’s very macho this time.
It’s not every week that you get to watch a no-headache movie. Leave your kids at home and take your parents to watch The Bucket List. Both you and they will have lessons to learn.
