Review - The Bucket List

The Bucket List has one major trick up its sleeve: its casting. Rob Reiner knew what he was doing when he cast two of the most recognizable film icons of this generation in the leading roles. The audience cannot help but remember their vivid, passionate portrayals in other films, which makes their devolution into elderliness and poor health all the more heart breaking. The story is that of two terminally ill cancer patients, roommates in the cancer ward, who decide to travel the world to satisfy their 'bucket list,' a list of things they want to do before kicking the bucket. The movie is a grand exercise in what exactly it takes to make America cry and nothing could be more emotionally striking than watching the former Joker loll in bed, shaved and trembling-- driven to tears and vomit by his bout with cancer. The same can be said of Freeman whose quiet, passive-aggressive Carter breaks your heart with his eventual deteriorating health.
Unfortunately, the rest of the film is your typical tear-jerker bringing little that is new to the formula. Each scene is far too predictable to be enjoyed and the characters are so supremely archetypical that they could have been culled from any movie.
The movie's biggest strength is that the relationship between Carter and Edward feels real. Reiner smartly spends nearly an hour of the film in their hospital room allowing their relationship to develop so that in the end it doesn't feel rushed or unbelievable. Despite the outlandishness of their adventures and the contrivances of their dreams, their love for each other is organic and ultimately satisfying. It's a welcome change to see two men who love each other portrayed in a decent and serviceable film.
It is a movie rife with cliches and formulaic twists that will be absolutely forgettable except for the persona-shattering performances and the obligatory tears that accompany any movie about terminally-ill patients. However, it is also a powerful testament to love- the love of a family, the love of a true friend and one cant help but leave the theater optimistic that someday he or she will forge a friendship as pure and redemptive of the one between Edward and Carter.