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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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41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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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

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

...if the movie leans heavily on its stars...well, wouldn't you?

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
01/17/08
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

Director Rob Reiner continues his creative free fall with this flawed, one-note List.

Full Review Source: Washington Times | comment Comment
01/17/08
Christian Toto
Christian Toto
Washington Times

As they cross off items on the bucket list, the men understand each other, their women watch them understand each other, and the rest of us wait for it to be over.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
01/17/08
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

The only Ang Lee film where he shows even a modicum of originality in his direction or any real personality or interesting visual flair.

Full Review Source: Cinematic Reflections | comment Comment
01/16/08
Derek Smith
Derek Smith
Cinematic Reflections

You get the performances you expect from these two great stars, which lift this story mercifully but marginally above its meager content.

Full Review Source: Film.com | comment Comment
01/15/08
Jonathan F. Richards
Jonathan F. Richards
Film.com

Much of The Bucket List plays like the male version of Thelma & Louise, a manic, silly, damn-the-torpedoes ride to life's nearest cliff.

Full Review Source: San Antonio Express-News | comment Comment
01/14/08
Larry Ratliff
Larry Ratliff
San Antonio Express-News

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)

The Bucket List is an entertaining romp.

Full Review Source: Houston Community Newspapers | comment Comment
01/14/08
Gary Brown
Gary Brown
Houston Community Newspapers

Although The Bucket List shouldn't sit well on the stomach, it goes down as easily as meals through an IV.

Full Review Source: Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema | comment Comment
01/12/08
Mark Pfeiffer
Mark Pfeiffer
Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

A God-awful film that seems to suggest that terminal cancer can be a blast as long as you have access to billions of dollars, a green-screen machine and a philosophical narrator offering homespun bits of wisdom at every turn.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment 3 Comments
01/12/08
Peter Sobczynski
Peter Sobczynski
eFilmCritic.com

...Rob Reiner returns to the crowd-pleasing form he seemed to lose about the time of the first Clinton inauguration

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
01/12/08
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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

Great performances by two of the best highlight Reiner's best work in years.

Full Review Source: ReelzChannel.com | comment Comment
01/11/08
Jeff Otto
Jeff Otto
ReelzChannel.com

Here's a movie that feels like you're sleeping through it even as you watch the thing.

Full Review Source: MTV | comment Comment
01/11/08
Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder
MTV

Even if you're usually suspicious of this kind of material, I think you'll find things to enjoy.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
01/11/08
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

This bucket's got a hole in it.

Full Review Source: Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA) | comment 1 Comment
01/11/08
John Wirt
John Wirt
Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)

The Bucket List's craft is as impeccable as moviemaking technique and computer tricks can be. But boiled into a formula that is sometimes cloying and sweet, the movie is nonetheless a lazy low-grade product.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
01/11/08
Ted Fry
Ted Fry
Seattle Times

The movie is caught in the crossfire of its two missions -- to celebrate the universal things that "really matter" in life (friendship, family) and to celebrate what it means to live like Jack Nicholson.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/11/08
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
all

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