The Bucket List

You won't see a lot movies reviewed on this site. The main reason being how few new releases I see every year. Maybe 10 in a "busy" year!

I've started 2008 with a good one though, thanks to a bootlegged Russian copy of one currently still at the theaters, which was delivered by a source that I cannot divulge. That whole process is kind of unbelievable. No....it was not in Russian, but there were enough symbols and titles and such at the front of the recording, that I knew where it came from.

Anyway, this was a copy of "The Bucket List". A story of two, terminally ill "opposites", who only have a few months each left to live. It's basically the classic tale of individuals learning about the importance of what money can't buy, which has probably been told a thousand times before. But this one was interesting in the way each of them finally realized it. One had to start from scratch (filthy rich his entire life - Jack Nicholson), and one just needed it reaffirmed (Morgan Freeman), but not until he had a chance to live with the rich one in a money's-is-no-object lifestyle for a few months....and over many adventures making up their "Bucket List".

I recommend it mostly for the message it sends, and the interesting perspectives for each character. They cast these two guys perfectly. It's easy, not very deep, but does make you stop and think at times. It's an unlikely story and yet predictable. Neither survives the end of the movie, and there will be a tear I think in most eyes, but you still feel good at the end. That makes it a winner for me.

A bucket list is a list of things you want to do, or should do, before you die (kick the bucket!). I have no such list myself and don't want to make one. They say in the movie that 99% of those polled, would not want to know the precise time of their death. I would guess that maybe once you have an idea of when that's going to be, a list starts to form in your head and heart, whether you want it to or not.