The Bucket List

Director: Rob Reiner Rob Reiner

Overview

Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman star as two terminally ill cancer patients who decide to break out of the hospital and live their last days to the fullest in director Rob Reiner's seriocomic road movie. Edward Cole (Nicholson) is a corporate billionaire who is currently sharing a hospital room with blue-collar mechanic Carter Chambers (Freeman). Though initially the pair seems to have nothing in common, conversation gradually reveals that both men have a long list of goals they wish to accomplish before they kick the bucket, and an unrealized desire to discover what kind of men they really are. But one can't accomplish such lofty objectives from the confines of a hospital bed, so now, in order to live their lives to the absolute fullest, Edward and Carter will have to make a break for it. With a checklist that includes playing the poker tables in Monte Carlo, consuming copious amounts of caviar, racing the fastest machines on four wheels, and much more, these two terminally ill men will do their best to fit a lifetime of experience into their last remaining days while forging an unlikely, but truly remarkable, friendship.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/10/2008
UPC:	0085391139881
Original Release:	2007
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:37:00
Sales rank:	10,777

Special Features

Writing a Bucket List with Screenwriter Justin Zackham; John Mayer Say Music video; DVD-ROM PC weblink to Access other great web features

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jack Nicholson	Edward Perryman Cole
Morgan Freeman	Carter Chambers,Roger
Sean Hayes	Thomas
Beverly Todd	Virginia Chambers
Rowena King	Angelica
Serena Reeder	Rachel
Rob Morrow	Dr. Hollins
Jonathan Mangum	Richard
Christopher J. Stapleton	Kyle
Annton Berry Jr.	Kai
Verda Bridges	Chandra
Destiny Brownridge	Maya
Brian Copeland	Lee
Jennifer Defrancisco	Emily
Jonathan Hernandez	Manny
Frank Maharajh	Sashi Olpadwala
Andrea J. Johnson	Elizabeth
Dawnn Lewis	Flight Attendant,Flight Attendant
Karen Maruyama	Nurse Shing
Taylor Ann Thompson	Edward's Granddaughter
Angela Gardner	Female Administrator
Roy Vongtama	Doctor No.1
Hugh B. Holub	County Health Director
Richard McGonagle	Board Chairman
Jordan Lund	Tattoo Artist
Nikki Novak	Attractive Woman #2
Amber Mead	Attractive Woman No.1
Ian Anthony Dale	Instructor
John O'Brien	Executive No.1
Alex Trebek	Himself
Noel Gugliemi	Mechanic

Technical Credits

Justin Zackham

Rob Reiner	Director,Producer
Justin Zackham	Screenwriter
Alan Greisman	Producer
Alex Daniels	Stunts
Craig Zadan	Producer
Jane Jenkins	Casting
Janet Hirshenson	Casting
Neil Meron	Producer
Travis Knox	Executive Producer,Producer
Jeffrey Stott	Executive Producer,Producer
Frank Capra III	Producer
Ron Bedrosian	Sound Effects
Lon Bender	Sound Effects
Dean Bailey	Stunts
Hubie Kerns Jr.	Stunts
Austin Priester	Stunts

Editorial Reviews

Like Six Degrees of Separation and Catch-22 before it, The Bucket List grabbed a place in the zeitgeist by identifying and naming a phenomenon that resonated with numerous people. Even when they hadn't seen the film, the term "bucket list" became a popular way for people to describe the exotic things they wanted to experience before dying. If only Rob Reiner's movie actually deserved that kind of widespread awareness. It starts out well enough, as screenwriter Justin Zackham takes his time establishing the characters of Carter (Morgan Freeman), a jovial mechanic with a brain full of trivia, and Edward (Jack Nicholson), a surly billionaire with a love of good coffee, who meet in neighboring hospital beds while fighting terminal cancer. Reiner and Zackham stay in this setting for over 30 minutes, developing these men into three-dimensional characters and mutual confidants. It's when they get to the actual bucket-listing that the film starts to rush, alternating between broad comedy and maudlin sentiment. Carter and Edward's jet-setting is thrown together haphazardly, serving only as an arbitrary background for their touchy-feely conversations and physical pratfalls. (And it's quite a flimsy background -- Freeman and Nicholson are clearly acting against green screens, rather than real settings.) This all leads up to a third-act reversal that manipulates the way the narrative was originally being told, intended as some kind of plot twist. Shortcomings aside, it's a consistent treat to watch these two acting treasures working together. The usually saintly Freeman is permitted to show human weakness, and does so well; the always mischievous Nicholson gets to indulge in more of the same, tossing in a few tugged heartstrings for good measure. Though watching The Bucket List shouldn't be on any dying man's list of priorities, it's a harmless enough way for the healthy to pass their time.