You have to wade through about thirty minutes of up close excruciating pain as you watch two elderly men deal emotionally and physically with the death sentence that has come upon each of them. Seeing Morgan Freeman and an even more suffering Jack Nicholson alone in their hospital room is not anyone's idea of movie escapism. But director Rob Reiner has a purpose in his new tale of two very different people who form a bond, a friendship, and an adventure over their last three months of life.
Once out of the hospital room, the Bucket List becomes a philosophical/spiritual treatise on the meaning of life. This most unusual movie uses the fun scenes (i.e. car racing, parachute jumping, etc.) as mere diversions to continually bring the viewer back to his or her own mortality. Borrowing a bit of Islam, Buddhism, ancient Egyptian philosophy, and a healthy dose of Christianity, Reiner has put his finger on the ultimate question - did you enjoy your life while you possessed it and in your pursuit of happiness did you bring others along for the ride.
A deep movie. One that continually puts the shortness of life on parade. A bit brutal. Perhaps not light enough. But a lesson all of us need to heed.
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