Review of The Bucket List (2007) by Francisco R — 03 Dec 2010

Director: Rob Reiner.

Producers: Justin Zackham, Travis Knox, Neil Meron, Craig Zadan.

Screenplay: Justin Zackham.

Year: 2007.

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman.

1 star out of 5 "Rob Reiner comes back with his best film since Ghosts Of Missisipi, but watching The Bucket List make us think that Reiner should keep resting".

"Do you know who's Rob Reiner?" If you ask that to people who have less then 25 years old, the 90% will say "No". Well, Rob Riener was one of the lords of the comedy in the last half of the XX century, and was a figure of respect in Hollywood (to your knowledge). In fact, in the 80's Reiner was one of the "good" american directors.

He started on T.V. writing "The Smothers Brothers" in 1967. With the time, Riener join to the world of cinema as actor with "Halls Of Anger" in 1969, and as director with the comedy classic "This Is Spinal Stap" in 1984 (after a long career on Television, "All In The Family", "The Andy Griffith Show", "Saturday Night Live", etc). In fact, the 80's was the best decade for Reiner, "The Sure Thing", "Stand By Me", "The Princess Bride" and "When Harry Met Sally" are the best of the director born in New York.

The 90's started well for him, he acted in "Postcards From The Edge" directed by Mike Nichols and directed another good film and considered for some people as a classic, "Misery" in 1990. "Regarding Henry" was a bad choice, but was decent compared with what he is doing right now....He redeem himself with "A Few Good Men" in 1992. After that Reiner was only performing as an actor ("Sleepless in Seattle", "Bullets Over Broadway", etc).

The last "good" film directed by him, was the first since "A Few...", "The American President", using the theme of the romantic film (well known by Reiner).

Since then he have direct very poor films like, "The Story Of Us", "Alex & Emma", "Everyone's Hero" and others (same thing for the films in wich acted). Sadly, it was clear that Reiner was lousing the touch, an he have been trying to recover it, unsuccessfully.

"The Bucket List" was, until 2010, the last effort of Reiner, to come back to the plenitude, after many missteps. And this is another work that means nothing, another to put in the list of Reiner's failures.

Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) is a mechanic with a life far away from the one he wanted, and he have Lung Cancer. The man is humble and even with some unfinished business, he is grateful for his life. For those things in life, he meets Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson), a millionaire with a bad attitude, ugly manners and little empathy, also with Lung Cancer. At first, he is hostile with Carter, but overtime, they will become great friends. Then, they start to confide each other some of them secrets (Carter wanted to be History Professor, but the debst and the pregnancy of his wife close the option and Edward married and divorced four times and he always have been a lonely man, etc).

One day, Carter starts to write his "Bucket List" (things to do before death)... And almost conveniently, Carter is infromed that he have only one year more of life. Edward, knowing about Carter's condition, writes his own list and he convince Carter to make everything on the list, Edward will finance the "trip".

From now on, all the film is healthy humor with beautiful scenarios, and some other confessions and more of the same or usual.

The script is not imaginative at all, with characters already used in a lot of other films, specially Nicholson's . It looks like the typical Drama that needs to sell, but that "traps" a few people, because the film doesn't contain anything appealing, but its lead actors (significant, but not enough).

Reiner never was a great director, but he was a good producer after all, and it shows (even when he wasn't producer in this one), he gets great actors to equate the lazy story. His direction is not a great challenge, but he tries, even when or for lack of talent or overly naive (specially in the skydiving scene), he ruins a work that was already condemned at the time of its writing....but Reiner have something to show, but nothing new on this film and the production is poor very misguided...there's no passion on this film, and probably, Reiner knew it, after all, he is not the "owner" of the film.

Even the narrative style is awful, more of the same, easy situations to appeal the heart, with an attempt of twist (the intention was good, but never surprise). In fact, tell the story from the death looks like a bad joke now, "American Beauty" was the pioneer, and was so great that every other film that tries to do something like that end up failing and it looks like a disrespect ("The Lovely Bones")....It's like Steven Spielberg trying to made a film that is narrated "backwards", like "Memento" (Gaspar Noé copy the idea in "Irréversible").

The biggest problem with the film is that neither Reiner or Zackham are interested about representing the anguish, the sadness and the agony that means been in the characters position. Maybe it is possible that someone can feel liberated, but the story never focus about "what's going on"...in fact the film it is always focus in the past, or better said, on conversations about the past, that's why the film is kind of distant with the complication and situations of the characters...probably, because the present it's boring? Many people say "every past time was better", but that doesn't mean that the present it's not important, even when it's represented in a hollow, easy film. The only good answer that can be taken of this is that the director and the screenwriter are tyring to give us a "happy ending" in a predictable story, but the ending is cheap and obvious.

Nicholson and Freeman, both talented actors, act splendid, but with obvious and easy characters, little surprising. Nicholson as a cruel and sarcastic man, but at the end is a "nice guy" and Morgan Freeman as the narrator, a wise, nice old man, who don't judge people...sounds familiar? It's no coincidence that the roles are recycled, because that is what you get when working with a writer rather daring and too complacent (someone who uses old ideas, will hardly achieve something new with the characters and less with his story), but you can see the chemistry between Freeman and Nicholson and probaly that the only reason for seeing this film.

John Schwartzman (cinematographer), don't risk nothing, but in general lines, is a decent work, at least the low points, are not his fault, but Reiner's. Other technical work is the editing, and it was regular, but Robert Leighton, understands Reiner, and don't risk, keeping everything in a digestible way.

The music by Marc Shaiman, was pretty good actually, but still, this make us think if is really true that this man was nominated for an Academy Award, but again, it was good.

TOO MUCH SENTIMENTAL OR TOO MUCH HUMOROUS TO TAKE IT SERIOUSLY (AS A FILM), HIGHLY CONFORMIST AND EXTREMELY FORGETTABLE, THIS MOVIE HAVE NO COMPROMISE IN ALMOST ANY POSSIBLE AMBIT.

Reiner fails, again, and again with a primite bet, that plans to charm, and even in that, the film fails, probably some people will feel moved by the film, but the discerning viewer will not find much on this (depends of the spectatot of course)..... But maybe, some day, Reiner will make films that will do justice to his career (who knows?), looking for imaginatives or at least solids stories....by now we must conform ourselves with "Flipped"....is not a great film, but it's something.