The Bucket List. Out tomorrow. It is terrible. (***3/10)
The idea of Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson acting together in a movie is an appealing one. Two titans of the movie world now come together in a buddy comedy about two guys who want to do everything they’ve never done before they die. Still appealing. They skydive and drive race cars. This is starting to get less appealing…The Bucket List is a half-way decent concept with some truly amazing actors, but it just doesn’t work. Yes, Freeman and Nicholson are terrific together, and they both do what they can with the material they are given. But great acting does not make up for poor writing. The poor writing is most obvious when the narration begins. Morgan Freeman, with his wonderful voice is of course the narrator, we would assume from beyond the grave. And somehow, this reminded me most of The Shawshank Redemption, the last movie I watched narrated by Morgan Freeman. (Well, March of the Penguins, too. But he didn’t star in that.)
And clearly The Bucket List has absolutely nothing in common with The Shawshank Redemption, except for Morgan Freeman. But I was constantly aware, every time Freeman began talking, that he was in a sub-par movie. He and Nicholson end up together in the hospital in adjacent beds, and become friendly with one another. Freeman is a career mechanic with a large family - wife, kids, grandkids. Nicholson is a bachelor billionnaire, and he owns the hospital. He has a toadying assistant, played by Sean Hayes (that flaming guy from Will and Grace), who gives a pretty solid performance. In fact, Nicholson’s relationship with Hayes is far more interesting and well done than the one he has with Freeman.
Soon after meeting, both Freeman and Nicholson are diagnosed with terminal cancer, and given six months or a year to live. So they break out of the hospital and go on a round-the-world trip to do everything they ever wanted to do before they “kick the bucket”. Hence - The Bucket List. At least Nicholson scoffs at the title, mocking it’s cutesy nature. And at the very least they get the old-guys-doing-extreme-sports thing out of the way early on. Get it - they’re skydiving, but they’re old! That in itself is supposed to be funny. It isn’t. What then follows is scene after scene of the two of them talking about life, ruminating on existence atop the pyramids, the Great Wall of China, beside the Taj Mahal, and so forth.
The basic premise of this movie, as it so obviously will be from the start, is that the journey the two undertake will change them profoundly. Freeman will get a chance, through Nicholson and his money, to experience a world beyond that which he has lived his whole life. And Nicholson will learn, through Freeman, the value of human kindness and love for one’s fellow man. This will of course lead to a heartwarming scene where Jack sets aside his rich-guy, arrogant maniac pride, and visits his estranged daughter. Now, it might seem as though I am giving away the ending here, that this is a spoiler. But it’s fairly obvious right from the start that this is what is going to happen. I knew this from watching the trailers.
In the end, The Bucket List is worth watching only for Freeman and Nicholson. The two of them are just magnetic, and they are well worth watching in just about anything. And The Bucket List is just about anything. It is a poor movie, it is badly written and so painfully obvious throughout, but people are going to watch this because of the names at the top of the marquee. And those names really do make it almost worthwhile.