2008 Woodie Awards
'Bucket List' provides comedic relief
Benjamin Billman
Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: Intermission
Movie Review
I remember watching Jack Nicholson cackle at Batman from the original "Batman" movie, made in 1989. Morgan Freeman has been working for almost as long. Put the two of them together in "Bucket List," and the first impression one receives is, well, of age.
However, that works well for the parts they play. Morgan and Jack both play aging men at opposite ends of the social spectrum and both are diagnosed with an ambiguous cancer (never in the movie is it specified which kind, besides that they both have it, and it's bad).
Two old, grumpy men stuck in a hospital room together is enough of a good setup for a movie, but when you have them be as masterful at cynical, dark humour as these two, the movie is sparked. Overall, this movie is about finding oneself, about taking a step into the wilder side of things and getting out of your comfort zone. To that end, the plot of this movie runs from wild and crazy romps throughout Europe to the deeply emotional and touching family scenes.
The polarity of the characters can't be questioned either. The man who has all the money in the world and nowhere to spend it, versus the man who worked his way through life to raise his kids right, and now has nothing else left to prove, beyond his own dreams. Comparisons like that could go on forever in this film, and it's impossible to work ones way around them.
Without revealing too much of the plot, since to give away a small part would be to give away the movie, Nicholson and Freeman meet in a hospital room, both having the same problem, and both being given the same diagnosis. They respond differently, but in the end decide to set off and actually live their final months on Earth in the way they always wanted. To that end they make a list, (the "Bucket List"), listing all the things they want to do before they kick the bucket.
The movie is a refreshing relief from the tired comedies of today, and the aging geriatrics of the big screen certainly prove that once again, they are still the masters. Truly a wonderful movie has been made here.
I remember watching Jack Nicholson cackle at Batman from the original "Batman" movie, made in 1989. Morgan Freeman has been working for almost as long. Put the two of them together in "Bucket List," and the first impression one receives is, well, of age.
However, that works well for the parts they play. Morgan and Jack both play aging men at opposite ends of the social spectrum and both are diagnosed with an ambiguous cancer (never in the movie is it specified which kind, besides that they both have it, and it's bad).
Two old, grumpy men stuck in a hospital room together is enough of a good setup for a movie, but when you have them be as masterful at cynical, dark humour as these two, the movie is sparked. Overall, this movie is about finding oneself, about taking a step into the wilder side of things and getting out of your comfort zone. To that end, the plot of this movie runs from wild and crazy romps throughout Europe to the deeply emotional and touching family scenes.
The polarity of the characters can't be questioned either. The man who has all the money in the world and nowhere to spend it, versus the man who worked his way through life to raise his kids right, and now has nothing else left to prove, beyond his own dreams. Comparisons like that could go on forever in this film, and it's impossible to work ones way around them.
Without revealing too much of the plot, since to give away a small part would be to give away the movie, Nicholson and Freeman meet in a hospital room, both having the same problem, and both being given the same diagnosis. They respond differently, but in the end decide to set off and actually live their final months on Earth in the way they always wanted. To that end they make a list, (the "Bucket List"), listing all the things they want to do before they kick the bucket.
The movie is a refreshing relief from the tired comedies of today, and the aging geriatrics of the big screen certainly prove that once again, they are still the masters. Truly a wonderful movie has been made here.