Seeing this movie is not something you need to do before you die.
The Bucket List (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:160
Fresh:67
Rotten:93
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: Not even the earnest performances of the two leads can rescue The Bucket List from its schmaltzy script.
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Genre: Comedies
US Box Office: $93,452,056
Synopsis: Academy Award winners Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman star in the comedy drama "The Bucket List," directed by Rob Reiner, a touching, no-holds-barred adventure that shows it's never too late to... Academy Award winners Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman star in the comedy drama "The Bucket List," directed by Rob Reiner, a touching, no-holds-barred adventure that shows it's never too late to live life to its fullest. A long time ago, Carter Chambers' (Morgan Freeman) freshman year philosophy professor suggested that his students compose a "bucket list," a collection of all the things they wanted to do, see and experience in life before they kicked the bucket. But while Carter was still trying to define his private dreams and plans, reality intruded. Marriage, children, myriad responsibilities and, ultimately, a 46-year job as an auto mechanic gradually turned his concept of a bucket list into little more than a bittersweet memory of lost opportunities and a mental exercise he occasionally thought about to pass the time while working under the hood of a car. Meanwhile, corporate billionaire Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) never saw a list without a bottom line. He was always too busy making money and building an empire to think about what his deeper needs might be beyond the next big acquisition or cup of gourmet coffee. Then life delivered an urgent and unexpected wake-up call to both of them. Carter and Edward found themselves sharing a hospital room with plenty of time to think about what might happen next--and about how much of that was in their hands. For all their apparent differences, they soon discovered they had two very important things in common: an unrealized need to come to terms with who they were and the choices they'd made, and a pressing desire to spend the time they had left doing everything they ever wanted to do. The list wasn't just a mental exercise anymore. It was an agenda. So, against doctor's orders and all good sense, these two virtual strangers check themselves out of the hospital and hit the road together for the adventure of a lifetime--from the Taj Mahal to the Serengeti, the finest restaurants to the seediest tattoo parlors, the cockpit of vintage race cars to the open door of a prop plane--with just a sheet of paper and their passion for life to guide them. Adding and crossing items off their list while taking in the grandeur and beauty of the world, they will grapple with the difficult questions and the even more difficult answers that plague all of us. And, without even realizing it, become true friends. With humor, insight, heart...and a fair amount of attitude. Sometimes you just need a deadline to get your life in gear. --© Warner Bros. [More]
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Rob Morrow
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Rob Morrow, Beverly Todd
Director: Rob Reiner
Director: Rob Reiner
Screenwriter: Justin Zackham
Producer: Alan Greisman, Rob Reiner, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron
Composer: Marc Shaiman
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for The Bucket List
as though the filmmakers were trying to cram the worst of Hollywood into one picture
Nicholson and Freeman help relieve the pain of cavities caused by sugary sentiment while Sean Hayes plays Smithers to Nicholson's Burns.
Nicholson and Freeman are a dynamite onscreen team, the power of their characters' friendship lending appropriate weight and gravitas to the proceedings.
Contrives the sappiest plot scenario imaginable and proceeds to ornament it with obscene hysterics.
A sporadically enjoyable no-brainer dramedy with a very simple premise that allows Nicholson or Freeman to coast through it without having to do much heavy hitting.
Gets a little too Hollywood for its own good, but the biggest pleasure here comes from the moments where two of our best actors (Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) simply talk to one another about life.
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.
The sap flows freely in this geezer tearjerker...unless you're a sucker for...sentimental twaddle...you should cross The Bucket List off yours.
Despite the AARP factor, audiences of all types will probably love this film for what it says about our own mortality and how we handle it.
It is nice to be pleasantly surprised when you see a film that exceeds your expectations.
it's all fairly routine... but the enormous skill and presence of these two actors, as well as their excellent chemistry, goes a long way towards making a reasonable entertainment.
It's like a cross between My Name Is Earl and The Amazing Race, only with two guys dying from cancer. And without the soul, heart, or brains.
The Bucket List never ascends from the bowels of tearjerk formula and audience pandering to a redemptive place of truth and art.
The sort of movie that inspires you to ponder all the better uses to which the chemical ingredients of 35mm film stock might be put.
[Nicholson and Freeman] are skilled at squeezing emotion from a cheeseball script (as is Reiner, who, knowing the score, doesn't try to rein them in).
Justin Zackham has penned a well paced plot which pilots through perky and sometimes poignant dialogue.
Rob Reiner's films have always aimed for a heartwarming effect and more frequently resulted in heartworm.
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