The Bucket List

Right off the bat, let me just say that this movie was really good. Or maybe I just like to judge movies by how much Deena cries. Like "P.S. I Love You," the critics, for some reason, ripped on this movie, but we really liked it. I guess when you have Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson in the same movie, expectations are going to be running pretty high.

The movie is about these two guys at the end of their lives who become terminally ill. They meet each other at the hospital that Jack owns because they're actually side-by-side in the same room receiving their treatments.

Morgan is the everyman that's married, has kids and grandkids, but worked hard as a mechanic every single day of his life to provide for his family. Been married to the same woman, and has never been with another woman. A lot of dreams unfulfilled or at least put on hold because he was too busy raising a family.

Jack is the stereotypical rich guy who has tons of money, but no wife and several failed marriages. You find out later in the movie that he has a daughter, but he somehow f@cks up that relationship, too. He plays the usual over-the-top Jack character that's self-indulgent, rude, and obnoxious, but funny. Is it me, or does he get all those Oscar nominations playing himself all the time?

The pair make for quite a contrast. They find out they're going to die, so they make a bucket list, which is basically, a list of things you always wanted to do before you kick the bucket. Then, they leave the hospital together and set out to do every single outlandish thing on their list. You'll see what they do. That's the fun, entertaining part of the movie.

By the ending of the movie, they learn more about each other and, of course, about themselves. The audience is along for the ride, and we begin to reflect on our own impending death and crummy, boring, regretful lives. Do you live every day like it's your last? Would you, if you knew your own due date? Would you even want to know? They also provide plenty of the inevitable religious questions. Do you believe in God? The afterlife? Again, maybe a cause for some self-reflection on the audience's part.

A little formulaic, I suppose, but when you have two heavyweights going at it in a movie, can the movie be really that bad? I liked it. Deena definitely loved it. With all the emotions flying around, it might even be considered a male bonding chick flick, if that's possible. Seize the day, and go ahead and watch this movie. My Baby highly recommends it. Machismo aside, I do, too. I guarantee the guys will like it better than Brokeback Mountain. Not that I've seen that movie or anything...