A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: The Bucket List

Date Viewed: 1/26/08

Details:

Jack Nicholson

Morgan Freeman

Sean Hayes

Beverly Todd

Rob Morrow

Director: Rob Reiner

Score: +

The Review: A buddy movie about death and dying; Grumpy Old Men reformed as a travelogue, without Ann-Margret.

From very different sides of the tracks, Edward Cole (Nicholson) and Carter Chambers (Freeman) are both diagnosed with terminal cancer. They're each characters in their own right -- Cole a self-centered, quite wealthy, driven businessman who buys and sells health care facilities; Chambers a quiet, experienced auto mechanic with a mind like the proverbial steel trap and a thwarted career as an academic. As they share a hospital room and mutual commiseration, they assemble a plan: hence the title.

I'm not sure Nicholson & Freeman have worked together before, but certainly not as well as the leads in this mixed dramatic comedy. Rob Reiner's deft touch threads two very different men together, and entwines their lives. The two really click; both are excellent with great comic timing and witty lines.

Rob Morrow reprises his role, sort of, from Northern Exposure.

(2-Feb-08)

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