The Bucket List starts with a narration from Morgan Freeman's Carter talking about Jack Nicholson's Edward while a solitary figure climbs a snow covered mountain slope. His narration has the same timelessness as that of Red's from Shawshank Redemption. Edward, on the other hand, reflects too much of Melvin from As Good as It Gets. This forms an immediate barrier in letting the movie get through to the audience, but not for long. Reiner does not waste much time on the set up - very soon these two seniors, sharing a hospital room, are diagnosed with cancer that sets the full-stop on their life-span after a few months. The rest of the movie is about the bonding between these opposite people - black polite mechanic family man & white rich obnoxious business man playboy - as they go about fulfilling their 'Bucket List', a wish list of things they want to do before they 'kick the bucket'.
It is not difficult for these veterans to play their parts - for one, they are great actors in their own right, and for second, they play exactly to their type. But let that not discount the wonder of their performances or from the movie that Reiner gives us. It's been some time since Reiner has given us a movie to discuss; he does so with The Bucket List. Reiner makes a very simple movie, with simple situations and modest aspirations - yet the same simplicity works in its favor. The two great actors that they are, Morgan Freeman & Jack Nicholson inject subtle warmth to their dying screen-selves that makes them at once likable and identifiable.
The Bucket List may not make you look back at your own life, but it may inspire you to do the things you always wanted to. And that works for me! My Rating --> 4 of 5
It is not difficult for these veterans to play their parts - for one, they are great actors in their own right, and for second, they play exactly to their type. But let that not discount the wonder of their performances or from the movie that Reiner gives us. It's been some time since Reiner has given us a movie to discuss; he does so with The Bucket List. Reiner makes a very simple movie, with simple situations and modest aspirations - yet the same simplicity works in its favor. The two great actors that they are, Morgan Freeman & Jack Nicholson inject subtle warmth to their dying screen-selves that makes them at once likable and identifiable.
The Bucket List may not make you look back at your own life, but it may inspire you to do the things you always wanted to. And that works for me! My Rating --> 4 of 5