Rama’s SCREEN

I read an article some time ago about an interview with Jack Nicholson and he said that THE BUCKET LIST has sentiment without being sentimental. Well that statement was dead-on. Apparently there are two movies this season that deal with the problem of dying: The Savages and this. And they’re both good films, THE BUCKET LIST though is… much more entertaining because it takes our desires to places we’ve never been but always wanting to see. It takes this subject matter in a light perspective without diminishing the fact that dying slowly but surely is never a pleasant experience both to the patient and to the family he or she is going to leave behind. Knowing ahead of time when you’re going to die could make it even more unbearable.

Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) is a millionaire who owns a hospital but suddenly he gets stricken with cancer. He rooms with another cancer patient, Carter Chamber (Morgan Freeman), a mechanic whose marriage is losing its romance and all he’s ever good at besides fixing cars is answering all the questions on Jeopardy. The doctor tells them that they’ve only got about six months or so to live. Carter writes a bucket list, a list full of activities that he wants to fulfill before he dies. Edward sees the list and suggests that they should literally make them happen. And so the journey and the friendship begin.

THE BUCKET LIST is an original tale of two buddies.
Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson teaming up is like the ultimate Odd Couple. The late greats Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon would be proud if they could see this movie, hell if they were still alive, I’m sure they’d be the cast.
That said, the duo Jack and Morgan as terminally ill strangers turn best friends prove to be a winning combination to this heart-warming comedy.

Man, I’d like to do the things that they do if I had the money to make ‘em happen. Skydiving, dining in a fancy restaurant in Italy, standing on top of the world in Himalaya. My bucket list would have those and some addition… like for example, meeting the band OASIS and having jam session with them at their recording studio, getting pictures taken with the whole team of Arsenal FC, Interviewing Monica Bellucci, and the fantasy continues…

Jack’s performance as Edward Cole is comedic and touching, like what he did in the movie About Schmidt. His range as an actor is very wide, one minute you’d see Jack doing his angry monologue or just laughing with his famous evil eyebrows going in all direction, and the next minute you’d see him crying in pain because of the loneliness and the emptiness that the character feels despite all the money in the world.

Morgan is national gem, he has that certain charm where he could make you feel like he’s your grandpa, that no matter what happens, if he dies, he will be deeply missed. His delivers a poignant performance as the character that represents everyday struggling family man, may not have the money but have all the love, even it means he’d have to go around the world just to remember it.

Director Rob Reiner (A Few Good Men, When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride) has the eye for this kind of job that results in movies with a delicate issue and at the same time its message gets across to us without being too overbearing. The use of green screen to give us views of Africa, China, and Taj Mahal in India, is done nicely, I think the audiences won’t mind too much of that aspect because the great acting by the two actors made the journey appear to look real.
I hope screenwriter Justin Zackham, who penned this story, will get more recognition after this one.

Without trying to sound morbid, I think we all of, at one point, have been or will be thinking about whether or not we’d be ready when our number’s up. Knowing when you’re going to die puts everything into perspective, you can respond by getting depressed or you can go out with guns blazing. I think the story not only wants to remind us that life is short so live it to the fullest, but also… Let’s hope that we wouldn’t have to know the time of our death just to realize that life is still worth living… ’til the very last breath.

* Place the cursor on the picture below to check my grade for this film