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Movies / On DVD / 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.

Rated: 12A

Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:15-02-2008

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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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
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Despite a somewhat simplistic view of life ... an engaging examination of two men looking back at their lives without pity or regret.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
01/28/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
02/14/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

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Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
02/15/08
Empire Magazine
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Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
10/18/08
Xan Brooks
Xan Brooks
Guardian [UK]
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N/R

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Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
02/12/08
BBC
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Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
10/18/08
Times [UK]
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Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
10/18/08
Screen International
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Bucket List dies long before the characters do.

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
01/12/08
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org

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

The overall sense is of a movie coasting on an obvious and somewhat flimsy premise, to which no one thought to bring much else besides Nicholson and Freeman.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/10/08
John Anderson
John Anderson
Washington Post

Yes it's a bit syrupy - but you only live once and I like lots of syrup with my pancakes. May you all live like you were dyin' and laugh so hard you cry.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
01/19/08
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

Even the one-two punch of A-list heavyweights Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman can't save this terminal tearjerker from itself.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
01/08/08
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

The most insipidly innocuous film ever made about facing mortality and living it up before passing away, The Bucket List has as much poetry and poise as its clumsy, clunky title.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
01/10/08
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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

At one point Morgan Freeman's character shouts, 'This was supposed to be fun.' I couldn't agree more.

Full Review Source: The Scorecard Review | comment 5 Comments
03/04/08
Jeff Bayer
Jeff Bayer
The Scorecard Review

That Morgan Freeman is one narratin' son of a gun.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
01/14/08
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

While not a classic in its own right, The Bucket List displays two great actors in classic form, a sort of Planes, Trains and Automobiles for maturing audiences.

Full Review Source: Spectrum (St. George, Utah) | comment Comment
01/20/08
Bruce Bennett
Bruce Bennett
Spectrum (St. George, Utah)

Frank Capra would have been at home here.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
12/25/07
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

Not every film about death needs a bald Swede and a game of chess: Sometimes, the sky-diving's enough.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
01/11/08
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle

Considering Rob Reiner's output lately, it's tempting to call the film a triumph, if only on the grounds that it's not awful. The problem is that it isn't any good either,

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
01/17/08
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy
 
 
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