DVD Review: The Bucket List

You only live once, so why not go out in style? That’s what two cancer- ward roommates, an irascible billionaire (Jack Nicholson) and a scholarly mechanic (Morgan Freeman), decide when they get the bad news. They compose a bucket list – things to do before you kick the bucket – and head off for the around-the-world adventure of their lives. Sky dive? Check. Power a Shelby Mustang around a racetrack? Check. Gaze at the Great Pyramid of Khufu? Check. Discover the joy in their lives before it’s too late? Check!

Review:
It is an age old question asked amongst us all. “What would you want to do if your days were coming to an end?” Edward Cole (Nicholson) and Carter Chambers (Freeman) are about to make that very list!

Director Rob Reiner, who has directed hits like When Harry Met Sally and Stand By Me returns with one of the top notch stories of the past decade. Two perfect strangers with terminal cancer meet one day in a hospital. One has the money, but no motivation, and the other lacks the funds, but has all the dreams. When you initiate a friendship between the two past-their-prime old timers, expect nothing less than sky diving, race car driving, pyramid climbing, and of course nothing but the finest of final days.

The writing in this film is almost too good. It pinpoints the emotion of the human spirit, focuses on what it’s like to prepare for goodbye, and keeps your eyes glued to the TV, with stellar headlining performances from two of the very best. I can see this movie being a tough pill to swallow for viewers that have similar family situations that hit a little closer to home. If nothing else, the statement saying, “Be sure to die with your eyes closed at peace, but let your heart remain wide open” is one of the wisest things I have ever heard. This is definitely a movie worth watching.

Review by Charlie Giltenboth

Grade: A
Official site: http://www.thebucketlist.warnerbros.com
Buy on Amazon: The Bucket List