The Bucket List(2007)- User Reviews

One of these days I'm not going to let my anti-Jack Nicholson prejudice keep me from going to see a movie he's in. I had so many friends recommend this film to me. "Oh, you HAVE to go see 'The Bucket List!'" I just can't make myself pay theatre prices to see Jack Nicholson, even though I love Morgan Freeman-- always have, always will. He (Morgan) has the likeability factor, for me. Jack Nicholson does not. There is just something about him that has always rubbed my fur in the wrong direction. He surely did surprise me here. Only one previous film has ever made me like him, and that was "As Good as It Gets" with Helen Hunt. Suffice to say that once again Jack Nicholson has made me like, no, dare I say, love his acting. Let's not forget Morgan Freeman, who has been a favorite of mine since "Driving Miss Daisy." I had a hard time categorizing this film: Is it a comedy or a drama? As Yogi Berra would say-- Yes. After all, it is about two men who meet in a hospital while undergoing treatment for terminal cancer. That wouldn't seem to be a good context for a comedy. The script covers the issues that are common to people with cancer and with the people who love and care about them. Most everyone has had a loved one who dealt with cancer. And, if they haven't yet, then they will. Yet this film is laugh-out-loud hilarious. It's ironically funny when Morgan Freeman's character is afraid to go ski-diving and has to be shoved out of the plane. Jack Nickolson's character, a wildly successful millionaire entrepreneur, happily leaps out of the plane. I also liked the quiet way Freeman's character refused the fancy food that Nicholson offered him in the hospital-- What did Freeman know that Nicholson didn't? As the snobbish millionaire, Nicholson gets his comeuppance when he spends the night bowing to the porcelain throne. The "sotto voce" line, "It doesn't taste so wonderful now" brought both tears and laughter to my eyes. The theme of doing everything you can to fully live each day is a life lesson everyone can use. To be fully present in every moment; to confront and conquer your fears; to live until you die-- these are precepts that can enrich anyone's life. The final line of the film says it all: "He died with his eyes closed, and his heart wide open!" May we all be blessed to follow that advice.