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Movies / Upcoming / The Bucket List
The Bucket List

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The Bucket List (2007)

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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.

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Reviews for The Bucket List

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141 - 160 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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Seeing this movie is not something you need to do before you die.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment 1 Comment
12/24/07
Matt Pais
Matt Pais
Metromix.com

as though the filmmakers were trying to cram the worst of Hollywood into one picture

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
12/24/07
Chris Barsanti
Chris Barsanti
Filmcritic.com

Nicholson and Freeman help relieve the pain of cavities caused by sugary sentiment while Sean Hayes plays Smithers to Nicholson's Burns.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
12/24/07
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Nicholson and Freeman are a dynamite onscreen team, the power of their characters' friendship lending appropriate weight and gravitas to the proceedings.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
12/24/07
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

Contrives the sappiest plot scenario imaginable and proceeds to ornament it with obscene hysterics.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
12/24/07
Eugene Novikov
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather

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.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
12/24/07
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

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.

Full Review Source: FulvueDrive-in.com | comment Comment
12/23/07
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
FulvueDrive-in.com

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.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment 1 Comment
12/23/07
Aaron Hillis
Aaron Hillis
Premiere Magazine

The sap flows freely in this geezer tearjerker...unless you're a sucker for...sentimental twaddle...you should cross The Bucket List off yours.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment 2 Comments
12/23/07
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

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.

Full Review Source: Maxim | comment Comment
12/21/07
Pete Hammond
Pete Hammond
Maxim

It is nice to be pleasantly surprised when you see a film that exceeds your expectations.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
12/21/07
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Smart, sophisticated and witty. It's a movie for people.

Full Review Source: ÜberCiné | comment 1 Comment
12/21/07
Gregory Weinkauf
Gregory Weinkauf
ÜberCiné

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.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
12/20/07
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

For a movie about such heady subjects it lacks any real umpf.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment Comment
12/20/07
Joshua Tyler
Joshua Tyler
CinemaBlend.com

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.

Full Review Source: Planet Sick-Boy | comment Comment
12/20/07
Jon Popick
Jon Popick
Planet Sick-Boy

The Bucket List never ascends from the bowels of tearjerk formula and audience pandering to a redemptive place of truth and art.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment 1 Comment
12/20/07
Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart
Newsday

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.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
12/20/07
Scott Foundas
Scott Foundas
L.A. Weekly

[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).

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
12/18/07
Julia Wallace
Julia Wallace
Village Voice

Justin Zackham has penned a well paced plot which pilots through perky and sometimes poignant dialogue.

Full Review Source: Outtakes With Fiore | comment Comment
12/18/07
Fiore Mastracci
Fiore Mastracci
Outtakes With Fiore

Rob Reiner's films have always aimed for a heartwarming effect and more frequently resulted in heartworm.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
12/14/07
Eric Henderson
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine
 
 
141 - 160 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
all

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