The Bucket List

What would you do if you knew that you were going to die? If you were given a definite amount of time left to live, what would you do with it? Would you go about your daily life as if nothing was wrong or would you make a list of all the things you wanted to do in your life that you haven't had a chance to do yet, fully knowing that some of those things are impossible given your financial situation. Well thats the question posed to Carter Chambers, a blue collar mechanic played by Morgan Freeman in The Bucket List. Carter is a family man, a wife and grown children with children of their own, he spent his life working for his family and in being told he is going to die of an incurable cancer he starts to think of and write out a list of things he would love to do before he dies, he is working on his list while in a hospital bed when fate brings Edward Cole, who happens to be a billionaire that owns the hospital in which Carter is staying and like Carter is suffering from an incurable cancer, into his room, Cole is played perfectly by eternal slimeball Jack Nickleson. Cole who finds himself stuck having to share a room given his own company rules and facing horribly bad PR if he somehow gets his own room in his hospital, befriends Carter over their time sharing a room. As time goes by they start to talk about Carter's list, Ed grabs it and starts to read things off, claiming that he could make this list happen for Carter, between things he already owns and his billions which he claims "aren't going anywhere anyway.." they could make their last few months alive the greatest time of their lives. The thought of this leaves Carter to wonder if its best, in the end, against his wife's wishes, he decides to take the trip.



Once they get out of the hospital, the first thing they do on Carter's list; He's never driven a 1965 Shelby Mustang GT-350, the car of his dreams, he even carries a keychain of a small red one, Cole buys him a red one just like his keychain just so he can drive it, by drive it, I mean drive it around Indianapolis Speedway ofcourse. Cole, just for fun gets behind the wheel of (I believe) a late 1960s Chevelle for a classic muscle car duel, through the whole scene its great because they're yelling smack back and forth to each other while going all Days Of Thunder but with out the suck, Carter wins their race then does a nascar style victory burn on the infield grass after jumping the mustang Hazard County Styley off a dirt ramp, why there is a dirt ramp at Indy I've no real idea, but hey, I don't care cuz the scene was awesome. From there they continue their journey, skydiving where the two of them are arguing the whole way, a great moment with Cole waiting till the very last moment to open his shoot just to get that extra thrill feel. From there we go to Egypt where as they set atop one of the great pyramids talking about death itself, and its looming over them. Carter explains that he has a belief similar to that of an ancent belief that entrance to the afterlife is granted by answering two questions, and claims he has his answers already. This leads to a story of families and fate, Cole says he has a daughter, and eventually explains why she doesn't speak to him anymore.



From there they jump all over the world back and forth with their only companion being Cole's assistant Matt whom he true to form treats like crap, through as the movie goes on you see its really just a playful banter the two have and they really do care for each other, hunting big game on safari in the prides of Africa, seeing every country in Europe, the middle east and asia, they debate the deep meanings of faith verses just living for the sake of living, Carter a man of deep faith, Cole a man who doesn't believe in god given his bitter nature toward the world. They come back home to the states 6 months after they started because Cole, playing a joke on Carter sends a high priced highly educated prostitute to try and seduce Carter who claims he's never so much as held hands with a woman before or after he married his wife, a thing Cole jokingly claims he will fix by the time the trip is over. This angers Carter and he demands they go home. As they are heading home to Carter's house they make a small detour, Carter and Matt have decided that if Carter had to face the one thing that was nagging him the whole time (if he still loved his wife or if he was just going through the motions) and came up with his definitive answer, that Cole should face the one thing thats been nagging him, his daughter's estrangement. Cole gets furious, rips up the list and storms off.



I won't ruin the way the movie goes from there to the end, but I will tell you its a great movie, its funny and its moving at times, you really see that rich or poor, we all really are the same, and that even the most horrible people can change if the right person makes them see the light. I love when a movie is as moving as it is funny, you really start to think about what would you do if you had just about a year or so to live left, and you start adding stuff to your own bucket list, which I think was the intent of the film in the first place, I won't give the ending away but I will say that it will make you laugh and smile, which really is all a movie of this nature is ment to do. I don't know if this is for everyone, I guess there would be those who can't take the idea of death very well, or that hate Shelby Mustangs or High Priced Hong Kong hookers I guess, but for the rest of us, sure, I can't see why the rest of the world couldn't atleast dig it abit, maybe it doesn't have constant rewatch value, but hey, it doesn't need too. So give it a shot if you wanna have a good laugh and a smile at some point.


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Laz