movie review the bucket list

O death, where is thy sting-a-ling-a-ling?

Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson star in "The Bucket List."

By Roger Ebert

"The Bucket List" is a movie about two old codgers who are nothing like people, both suffering from cancer that is nothing like cancer, and setting off on adventures that are nothing like possible. I urgently advise hospitals: Do not make the DVD available to your patients; there may be an outbreak of bedpans thrown at TV screens.

The film opens with yet another voiceover narration by Morgan Freeman , extolling the saintly virtues of a white person who deserves our reverence. His voice takes on a sort of wonderment, as he speaks of the man's greatness; it was a note that worked in " The Shawshank Redemption " and " Million Dollar Baby ," but not here, not when he is talking of a character, played by Jack Nicholson , for whom lovability is not a strong suit.

Nicholson is Edward, an enormously rich man of about 70, who has been diagnosed with cancer, given a year to live, and is sharing a room with Carter (Freeman), about the same age, same prognosis. Why does a billionaire not have a private room? Why, because Edward owns the hospital, and he has a policy that all patients must double up, so it would look bad if he didn't.

This is only one among countless details the movie gets wrong.

Doesn't Edward know that hospitals make lotsa profits by offering private rooms, "concierge service," etc.? The fact is, Edward and Carter must be roommates to set up their Meet Cute, during which they first rub each other the wrong way and then have an orgy of male bonding. Turns out Carter has a "bucket list" of things he should do before he kicks the bucket. Edward embraces this idea, announces, "Hell, all I have is money," and treats Carter to an around-the-world trip in his private airplane, during which they will, let's see if I have the itinerary right here, visit the Pyramids, the Taj Mahal , Hong Kong, the French Riviera and the Himalayas.

Carter is faithfully married to his loving wife Virginia ( Beverly Todd ), who is remarkably restrained about seeing her dying husband off on this madcap folly. She doesn't take it well, but I know wives who would call for the boys with butterfly nets. Edward, after four divorces, has no restraints, plenty of regrets, and uses his generosity to mask egotism, selfishness and the imposition of his goofy whim on poor Carter. That his behavior is seen as somehow redemptive is perhaps the movie's weirdest fantasy. Meanwhile, the codgers have pseudo-profound conversations about the Meaning of It All, and Carter's superior humanity begins to soak in for the irascible Edward.

The movie, directed by Rob Reiner , was written by Justin Zackham , who must be very optimistic indeed if he doesn't know that there is nothing like a serious illness to bring you to the end of sitcom cliches. I've never had chemo, as Edward and Carter must endure, but I have had cancer, and believe me, during convalescence after surgery the last item on your bucket list is climbing a Himalaya. Your list is more likely to be topped by keeping down a full meal, having a triumphant bowel movement, keeping your energy up in the afternoon, letting your loved ones know you love them, and convincing the doc your reports of pain are real and not merely disguising your desire to become a drug addict. To be sure, the movie includes plenty of details about discomfort in the toilet, but they're put on hold once the trots are replaced by the globe-trotting.

Edward and Carter fly off on their odyssey, during which the only realistic detail is the interior of Edward's private jet. Other locations are created, all too obviously, by special effects; the boys in front of the Pyramids look about as convincing as Abbott and Costello wearing pith helmets in front of a painted backdrop.

Meanwhile, we wait patiently for Edward to realize his inner humanity, reach out to his estranged daughter and learn all the other life lessons Carter has to bestow. All Carter gets out of it is months away from his beloved family and the opportunity to be a moral cheering section for Edward's conversion.

I'm thinking, just once, couldn't a movie open with the voiceover telling us what a great guy the Morgan Freeman character is? Nicholson could say, "I was a rich, unpleasant, selfish jerk, and this wise, nice man taught me to feel hope and love." Yeah, that would be nice. Because what's so great about Edward, anyway? He throws his money around like a pig and makes Carter come along for the ride. So what?

There are movies that find humor, albeit perhaps of a bitter, sardonic nature, in cancer. Some of them show incredible bravery, as in Mike Nichols' "Wit," with its great performance by Emma Thompson .

"The Bucket List" thinks dying of cancer is a laff riot followed by a dime-store epiphany. The sole redeeming merit of the film is the steady work by Morgan Freeman, who has appeared in more than one embarrassing movie, but never embarrassed himself. Maybe it's not Jack Nicholson's fault that his role cries out to be overplayed, but it's his fate, and ours.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

The Bucket List

• Alfonso Freeman as Roger
• Morgan Freeman as Carter
• Sean Hayes as Thomas
• Rob Morrow as Dr. Hollins
• Beverly Todd as Virginia
• Rowena King as Angelica
• Jack Nicholson as Edward
• Justin Zackham

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Movie Review: The Bucket List (2007)

• General Disdain
• Movie Reviews
• 8 responses
• --> December 30, 2007

Rob Reiner has surfaced again, directing arguably two of the most accomplished actors of our time: Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. The vehicle: The Bucket List , a comedy drama that tries to add a new twist to the Odd Couple scenario. Instead of just throwing together two incompatible people, as so many movies have already done, the setup is to put two dying, disparate men together to partake in their unfulfilled fantasies.

It all starts when Edward Cole (Nicholson) finds himself sharing a cramped hospital room with Carter Chambers (Freeman) in own of his very own hospitals. Cole, it turns out, is a ruthless billionaire who makes his money buying failing medical facilities and returning them to profitability (done by firings, cramped living spaces and crummy food). Chambers is a simple auto-mechanic with a penchant for knowing all the useless knowledge one could hope to know (remember Ken Jennings ?). What they have in common is that both have incurable cancer and a finite amount of time left on the planet. To make the most out of it, they create a list – The Bucket List – of things to do before they kick the bucket. It includes simple entries like:

• laugh til you cry
• drive a Shelby Mustang
• get a tattoo
• help a complete stranger for the good

It also includes more robust entries like:

• visit the Taj Mahal
• hunt lions in Africa
• see the pyramids
• climb Mt. Everest

During these interludes, both share intimate knowledge of the their lives with one another, each offering their own thoughts and views to the others’ dilemma. One or two are thought provoking, but mostly they’re put in place to remind us that The Bucket List is more than just a movie about two old guys living it up as they travel all over the globe. This is ultimately where the movie becomes unglued. Reiner should have set the childish antics and globetrotting as the aside to the personal struggle these guys and their families were experiencing.

This however, doesn’t take away from the strong performances by the stars. Sean Hayes (whom I couldn’t stand in Will & Grace ) has a few remarkable scenes as Cole’s personal assistant Thomas. But obviously this film is really the Jack & Morgan show and they don’t fail to deliver. Nicholson is always a great crotchety wise-ass and Freeman is always the stalwart diplomat. They’re not quite as good as Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, but they’re good nonetheless. From what I can tell this was the first movie that stars both men and from my point of view it was long overdue.

So even though The Bucket List doesn’t really force us to face our mortality in quite the manner it means to, it does manage to drive home the idea that there are plenty of things to get done before the reaper comes a knockin’. From the words of another fantastic Freeman character, Andy Dufresne (from The Shawshank Redemption ): “Get busy living, or get busy dying.”

I'm an old, miserable fart set in his ways. Some of the things that bring a smile to my face are (in no particular order): Teenage back acne, the rain on my face, long walks on the beach and redneck women named Francis. Oh yeah, I like to watch and criticize movies.

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'Movie Review: The Bucket List (2007)' have 8 comments

January 1, 2008 @ 9:11 pm Will

First I’ve herd fo this movie. Gonna check it out cos Jack is back! I can’t think of any shit flicks he’s ever been in.

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January 3, 2008 @ 2:32 pm TB

This didnt look ‘that bad’, atleast not by the trailers. I completely agree with some of the points you made about it though. I might see it in the future.

January 4, 2008 @ 5:23 pm Video

I love both Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Also Alfonso Freeman is in this movie too. I can hardly wait to see the movie. Good review.

January 14, 2008 @ 11:36 am Gearhead

A pretty good film. Although, I agree that It would have been better without the cheesy goofing around scenes. I understand that enjoying the rest of their life was their goal, but the way those scenes were done, made it feel like it belonged more in a cheesy made for teens movie.

January 23, 2008 @ 9:15 pm joe

watching this excellent movie put one thought in my head right away. live now. this movie about two old men who find that they are suddenly at the end of their rope discover each other and their philosophy of life. they go on a journey which may be simple but just getting the chance to do all you’ve ever wanted would send a chill up your spine. this movie is a great movie for it will make your feel every emotion you posess but most of all will make you do one thing and that is thank god for what you have.

January 24, 2008 @ 6:17 pm Steven A Myers

Every critic I’ve read so far has, to one extent or another, panned the film. Maybe it’s my age(69), but I laughed and laughed, and thought it was one of the best films I’ve seen in the past 3-4 years. I may even have shed a tear towards the end. I also thought Bucket List was much funnier than the Matthau/Lemmon lash-ups, all of which I thought were cheap attempts at laughs. Freeman and Nicholson touched something in me and a lot of the older folks in the audience. Maybe it is that by my age I don’t fret much about death and dying, and can laugh at it. That, I suspect, is what went over the heads of the younger set. Well, they keep making films for 14-year olds, and the 14-year olds deserve them.

January 26, 2008 @ 7:35 pm Judy

I loved this movie, but then again I am 65 years old. It seems like just yesterday I was in my 20’s. Young people probably can’t relate to this movie. However, they will be there in the blink of an eye and then maybe they should watch this movie again with a fresh (but older) eye.

February 21, 2008 @ 8:49 pm Chris

I really don’t think it only affects the older generation. I am 17 and it might be my mentality is different to others my age, but i thought this film was amazing. I watch ALOT of movies, probably about 5 a week, maybe more and this film made my smile, laugh, it made my eyes water and most of all..It made me care for both Freeman and Nicholson. I give this film 9/10 easily for great acting and an all round great film. I also recommend that if you get a chance to watch it, you do.

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The Bucket List Reviews

If there is a message to be found in this 2007 comedy, which was directed by Rob Reiner, it is that if you are going to be diagnosed with terminal cancer then you will be better off if you are enormously rich.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Jul 31, 2024

In the end it's a predictable movie that seems to try and manipulate the viewer into bursting into tears when really he or she might only be trying to suppress yawns.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 31, 2021

One of the most fun and uplifting films of the year.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Nov 24, 2020

A huge joke. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Nov 2, 2020

How a filmmaker can take two Oscar-winning actors with gifts for comedy and drama and construct a film that fails so miserably is beyond me.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4.0 | Sep 4, 2020

A lazy and condescending package from top to bottom.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Dec 18, 2019

Despite its scripted shortcomings, THE BUCKET LIST is poignantly filled with heart, guaranteed to tug at your heartstrings and tear ducts as we each face our own mortality, hopefully with the same courage and joy as Edward and Carter.

Full Review | Nov 7, 2019

The Bucket List is far from a great movie, but it is a great opportunity to watch a pair of great actors at the top of their game.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Oct 29, 2019

As Rob Reiner should know better and Jack Nicholson should know better and Morgan Freeman should know better, what you have here is a film which has to make you ask: how come they didn't?

Full Review | Aug 23, 2018

Once more, Reiner defines himself as the schlock artist who knows, as do his stars, that coots with familiar faces can walk through this garden of schmaltz with their eyes closed.

Full Review | Jan 2, 2018

Its quest for meaningful insights keeps things listless.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Feb 2, 2017

Meehl's gentle handling of her subject and her unobstrusive, observational camera work make this a delightful and touching experience.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 2, 2012

Full Review | Original Score: C | Feb 18, 2012

Whilst this remains reasonably captivating for its first hour, it kinda runs out of steam after that...

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 30, 2012

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 18, 2011

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 17, 2011

A modestly uplifting, and at-times poignant, buddy comedy that manages to make the most of the worst of situations.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 14, 2009

...contrived and forced, almost begging the audience to pull out the hankie.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Feb 12, 2009

An endearing film that will bring you to tears and have you cherishing every relationship and day you have.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 5, 2009

...a hopelessly uneven endeavor that's ultimately felled by a lamentable emphasis on heavy-handed bursts of schmaltziness.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 20, 2008

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Movie Review | 'The Bucket List '

For Geezers Gone Wild, Too Little, Too Late

By Stephen Holden

• Dec. 25, 2007

“The Bucket List” operates on the hope that two beloved stars rubbing their signature screen personas together can spark warm, fuzzy box office magic. I wouldn’t count on it. Stars or no, it is an open question whether audiences will flock to a preposterous, putatively heartwarming buddy comedy about two men diagnosed with terminal cancer living it up in their final months.

The geezers chafing at death’s doorstep are Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) and Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman), cancer patients who meet cute in the room they share in a hospital owned by Edward. A greedy billionaire health care mogul, Edward is a victim of his own ruthless cost-cutting program that decrees two to a room in his cramped establishment.

Obviously, no billionaire in his right mind would endure such humiliation in an institution he is knowingly bleeding to death; he would have his own deluxe private suite somewhere else. Edward, however, does have gourmet food supplied by his obedient assistant Thomas (Sean Hayes), which he lustily consumes until chemotherapy takes away his appetite along with his hair.

Slipping into their stock screen personas of rampaging fool (Mr. Nicholson) and pious wise man (Mr. Freeman), neither actor adds a note that we haven’t seen before. Given less than a year to live, Edward and Carter flee the hospital to board Edward’s private jet for a final blowout underwritten by Edward.

Along the way they become best pals who help each other learn the usual lessons about living life to the fullest. The movie strenuously denies medical reality. As they undertake their journey, both men, in temporary remission, appear as robust as the rejuvenated seniors in “Cocoon.”

Their initial adventures, like sky diving and race car driving, are high-adrenaline stunts embraced with macho zeal; they even visit a tattoo parlor. As they follow an itinerary that takes them to the south of France, the Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the Himalayas and Hong Kong, these stopovers, obviously filmed on a soundstage, have all the reality of snapshots photographed in front of travel posters.

On the sexual front, the happily married Carter demurs when opportunity presents itself. But nothing has ever prevented Edward, who has been married and divorced four times, from pursuing continuous novelty. The movie mercifully spares us the spectacle of Mr. Nicholson, whalelike at 70, in full rutting mode.

Directed by Rob Reiner from a sketchy screenplay by Justin Zackham, “The Bucket List” fails its stars in fundamental ways. Mr. Nicholson has played wealthy rogues before (most recently in “Something’s Gotta Give”), but this particular bon vivant is unsalvageably repellent. The actor’s frantic mugging, guffawing and eyebrow twitching only underscore the character’s pompous self-satisfaction. By the time the movie allows Edward a token gesture of humanity (his guilt-stricken attempt to reunite with an estranged daughter he cruelly betrayed), it is too little too late.

Carter is the one who initially brings up the notion of “the bucket list,” a roster of must-have experiences to be pursued before “kicking the bucket.” We are asked to accept that this dignified sage has been happily toiling as an auto mechanic for 46 years after forgoing his higher education to support a family. Anyone this articulate and composed would have risen far above day-laborer status.

Largely self-taught, Carter keeps himself in mental shape by watching “Jeopardy!” and competing out loud with the contestants. During their travels he is a font of geographic and historical trivia.

For all the kindly gravity he puts into the role, Mr. Freeman cannot begin to make you believe that a quiet family man like Carter would abandon his loyal wife (Beverly Todd) during his final months of life to go on a spree with a rascally egomaniac. I don’t imagine Mr. Freeman believes it either.

Saddest of all, the professed spiritual goals on the pair’s checklist of things to do — “laugh till you cry,” “witness something majestic” — are the kind of pallid bromides found in the pages of a quickie self-help book: “I’m Not O.K., and Neither Are You.”

“The Bucket List” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It has off-color dialogue.

THE BUCKET LIST

Opens on Tuesday in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto.

Directed by Rob Reiner; written by Justin Zackham; director of photography, John Schwartzman; edited by Robert Leighton; music by Marc Shaiman; production designer, Bill Brzeski; produced by Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Alan Greisman and Mr. Reiner; released by Warner Brothers Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 38 minutes.

WITH: Jack Nicholson (Edward Cole), Morgan Freeman (Carter Chambers), Sean Hayes (Thomas), Rob Morrow (Dr. Hollins) and Beverly Todd (Virginia).

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Metacritic reviews

The bucket list.

• 75 ReelViews James Berardinelli ReelViews James Berardinelli The movie's sincerity helps it get over some of the most difficult hurdles and the feeling after leaving theater is one of having experienced something worthwhile albeit unremarkable.
• 67 The A.V. Club Noel Murray The A.V. Club Noel Murray There are certainly worse ways to spend the holiday season than in the company of two charming old actors, being reminded that human companionship makes life worth living, even as it makes dying a little tougher.
• 60 Variety Todd McCarthy Variety Todd McCarthy A feel-good film about death, a sitcom about mortality, "Ikiru" for meatheads. It's also a picture about two cancer patients confronting reality, and deciding how they want to spend their presumed last days, that has not an ounce of reality about it.
• 60 Village Voice Village Voice Turns out The Bucket List is a meta-film, mostly about how these two legendary actors interact and what it means to be an actor in your own life.
• 50 The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen You'd think the team of Rob Reiner, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman might have had the right stuff. Alas, their labored efforts fail to lift The Bucket List out of its flatlining state.
• 50 Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust Freeman and Nicholson make the most of Justin Zackham's script, but there just isn't enough substance behind their characters to prop up the carpe diem platitudes. The result is a semi-comedic, geriatric "Brokeback Mountain" minus the sex and with a Himalayan summit.
• 50 The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen Director Rob Reiner is betting that their star power alone will blind us to the holes in this cheesecloth of a script. It proves a fool's bet – no star shines that brightly.
• 38 USA Today Claudia Puig USA Today Claudia Puig The entire undertaking feels like a waste of time and talent.
• 30 L.A. Weekly Scott Foundas L.A. Weekly Scott Foundas Director Rob Reiner’s atrocious cancer “comedy” marks a new low in Hollywood’s self-flagellating “things to be thankful for” tradition.
• 25 Premiere Aaron Hillis Premiere Aaron Hillis This terminally ill, terminally awful dramedy marks a sad cinematic milestone: The Bucket List is the first film in history to feature a truly wretched Nicholson performance -- and we're not talking about the character he plays.
• See all 34 reviews on Metacritic.com
• See all external reviews for The Bucket List

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