The Bucket List
DIR: Rob Reiner • WRI: Justin Zackham • PRO: Alan Greisman, Neil Meron, Rob Reiner, Craig Zadan • DOP: John Schwartzman • ED: Robert Leighton • DES: • Bill Brzeski • CAST: Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Beverly Todd, Rob Morrow

This saccharine-coated coming of old age drama by director Rob Reiner should do a good job of infuriating cynics everywhere. It’s another trough in the never-ending stream of over-sentimental Hollywood blockbusters just begging for your sympathy.
 
Billionaire businessman Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) and down-to-earth family man Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) meet each other in hospital at the beginning of the movie. The two aged troopers are receiving chemotherapy after both being diagnosed with cancer and both have been given less than a year to live. They hit it off almost instantly and form a strong bond with each other.
 
During the treatment, with thoughts of pushing up the daisies never too far away, Chambers writes out a ‘bucket list’ or things to do before you kick the bucket, if you will. The two then agree that when they are released from hospital they will try to tick off every item on the list with the help of Cole’s accrued funds. Post-therapy, the wrinkly rogues start on their list-ticking with youthful fervour and childish abandon. They take in sky-diving, car-racing, and gambling in Monte Carlo and visit a plethora of must-see places on the planet. The tour takes in the splendour of the pyramids of Egypt, India’s architectural wonder the Taj Mahal and going on safari in Africa.
 
On their excursions the two protagonists learn more about each others’ characters. Chambers seems to be running from his mundane but well-structured family life and his dashed hopes of becoming a history professor whereas Cole is four times divorced and escaping from his business pressures. His family life is a disaster as he is not even on speaking terms with his only daughter. The two question each other on faith and morality and what they really wanted from their time on the earth. Are they really happy with their lot? Could they have done things differently? Does the audience care? Hmmmmm.
 
The movie pours on sentimentality like treacle, with an all too familiar, over dramatic, souring orchestral score to help out. That’s when the soundtrack isn’t barraging us with clichéd pop and rock tunes. Why filmmakers still think it’s clever to use Canned Heat’s ‘On the Road Again’ juxtaposed with images of cars or planes on the move I’ll never know.

The Bucket List never manages to really engage the viewer or come close to tugging on the heart-strings. Not mine, anyhow. It feels like a concoction of buddy movies (Wild Hogs, Swingers, The Last Detail, etc) with a hint of Brewster’s Millions and a dash of Cassavetes’s Husbands thrown in for good measure. The result, unfortunately, leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Freeman and Nicholson give passable performances in undemanding roles that they probably could have done in their sleep. Yawn.
 
Regarding the two famous thespians, there’s an aura of ‘take the money and run’ pervading this picture. Movie studios just love throwing large wads of cash at big Hollywood stars and with stunning locations thrown into the script as well, I suppose who could blame them for signing on the dotted line. It’s just that we expect a lot more from actors of their ability.
 
It is hard to believe that this is from the same director of the excellent This is Spinal Tap. While that movie uses clever scripting and improvised wit, The Bucket List utilises worn-out jokes and space-filling dialogue to pad out the running time. Rob Reiner, you should be ashamed of yourself!

Robert O'Reilly
(Read biog here)

Rated 12A (see IFCO website for details)
The Bucket List is released on 15th February 2008
The Bucket List – Official website