Bucket List~Jack Nicholson~Morgan Freeman~Just Outstanding On This Ultimate Road Trip About Friendship With A Heart

"I run hospitals, not health spas, two beds to a room, no exceptions!"

Edward Cole, (Jack Nicholson), is a billionaire who made that statement at the beginning of this most exceptional and touching movie The Bucket List...Those words come to bite him in the butt when he unexpectedly becomes a patient in one of his own hospitals and has to share his room with a stranger. When he complains to his personal valet/assistant, Matthew, (Sean Hayes), who he calls Thomas and torments throughout the film, he is reminded of that pledge…But the changes that occur in him from this encounter with Carter Chambers, (Morgan Freeman), will inadvertently change his life and treats us, the moviegoers, to the most heartwarming, funny and brilliant movie I've seen in a long time.

I can honestly say I laughed a lot and there were moments I cried but mostly I smiled as I watched Nicholson and Freeman doing what they do best, act! Having Rob Reiner as the director and producer this film is certainly not shabby either.
Together, The Bucket List is one really great movie.

Carter is a mechanic and a genius when it comes to history and his knowledge of little tidbits of information pertaining to everything, the ultimate trivia nut… he is also a family man married 45 years with grown children and grandchildren… Edward, a multi billionaire, has no family even though he had been married 4 times. It does turn out that he has a daughter but is not in contact with her. Later on in the film we find out more about that situation.

When the two meet in the hospital, both are terminally ill with cancer and though they didn't know one another, they soon form a most unlikely and touching friendship as they share the suffering and pain each of them go through during their operations and chemo treatments. Ultimately they start to share more than the agony they endure during the pain and their talk would turn to laughter as the friendship continues to grow stronger.

On the day they both find out how much time they have left to live Carter is writing a list which he then throws away, but Edward picks it up…What is this? He wants to know, a Bucket List, Carter replies, a list one of his teachers gave him as an assignment years ago, "things to do before I Kick the Bucket" list. Carter thinks about this for a moment and decides to add to the list…let's do it, he says, I certainly have the money! It's about personal growth Carter says not monetary, but that soon changes as the list is revised.

That's when this becomes the ultimate "Road Trip" movie…They decide to leave the hospital and proceed to fulfill all the wishes they wrote on the Bucket List. Needless to say, Carters wife Virginia, (Beverly Todd) protests this decision but they go ahead anyway, this is his only chance to live a life he has never known.

So off they go on their grand adventure, jumping from planes, driving race cars, cars Carter has only dreamed about during his years as a mechanic…they dine at the finest restaurants in the South of France in the magical village of Eze, where the Mediterranean is stretched out as far as the eye can see below them. They get tattoos. They see the Egyptian Pyramids. Motor cycle on the Great Wall of China and Safari in Africa. They visit the Taj Mahal and attempt to climb to the top of Mt. Everest, but the weather doesn't cooperate, they are told it will stop snowing in the spring… hmm, would either one of them be alive then?

During all this they discuss life, death, and all the little historic facts Carter is privy to about wherever they are. The comedic lines Nicholson has though-out this movie are priceless regarding those very same topics, including bodily functions…one in particular rings in my head but I can't repeat it here. And then there's the line regarding how fast life passes by; "like smoke through a keyhole". And the one when Carter is somewhat hesitant about getting a tattoo and Edward says to him; "What, are you afraid of not being able to be buried in a Jewish Cemetery?"

Yes, this certainly has become a truly remarkable friendship. That is, until they step over the line with each other, interfering in the personal aspects of their lives. Thus the trip ends, but not the story. I don't want to give any more of this most touching and intimate film away. There is so much more to the tale. How lives can be touched by strangers, how just the little things can be more important then the majestic and most significantly, how discovering the joy in your life is what matters, or laughing till you cry.

Bucket List is an outstanding movie on so many levels. As one who is growing steadily older I can completely understand the feeling of how fast life can pass by without even realizing it and how our thoughts of accomplishing some of our dreams might fade away, yet to be rekindled by a twist of fate. I'm not sure just how the younger audience might feel about this film, maybe not on the level we older folks do but I can't imagine any fan of Nicholson's or Freeman's not getting something out of it or even just enjoying their dynamic performances. Sean Hayes also does a great job in his role, being there for whatever or whenever he was needed, taking each little insult with a grain of salt, yet at the end of the movie, having the key to what was the final wish of both men.

Rob Reiner did a fantastic job directing this movie, bringing out the charisma and chemistry between the two actors. The cinematography was also a star of the film, each scene was just exquisite. The landmark location shots were simply gorgeous each and every one of them, made me wish I had the money to fulfill those wishes and see them all, but of course, not the circumstances. This is a story of illness and tragedy which ultimately becomes a tale of two strangers who form a bond of inspired and heartwarming friendship filled with humor and wisdom. A lesson for both about the lives of others, which goes as deep as is humanly possible.

I give this movie a 5 star, double thumbs up and recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys a heartwarming story which provides good laughs and a good cry while watching two of the best actors in the profession today, doing what they do best.

Special Features
Writing a Bucket List features the screenwriter Justin Zackham discussing how this was his personal Bucket List of things he wanted to accomplish in his lifetime.

Music video by John Mayer, "Say" The words and score played against the backdrop of the scenery we just watched in the film. I loved this video and watched it a few times.

97 mins

Main Cast:
Jack Nicholson - Edward Cole
Morgan Freeman - Carter Chambers
Sean Hayes - Thomas/Matthew
Alfonso Freeman - Roger
Rob Morrow - Dr. Hollins
Beverly Todd - Virginia Chambers

Director:
Rob Reiner
Writer:
Justin Zackham
Producers:
Craig Zadan, Rob Reiner, Neil Meron

PG-13 Adult Language.