Tear-jerking laughter

The Bucket List

Genre: Comedy/drama

Rating: Four stars out of five

Running time: 97 minutes

Who's in it: Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Rob Morrow.

On the face of it, The Bucket List is a no-brainer, a stereotype, a blah a ... you've got the idea. C'mon now, how many plots have we heard and seen developed around the premise that someone is going to die and they decide to live it up before they kick the bucket?

But then, how many plots like that have we seen developed around Jack Nicholson (Edward Cole) and Morgan Freeman (Carter - first name, as he tells Cole when they collide in a hospital room with similarly sort-term life prospects), with snazzy dialogue by screenwriter Justin Zackham and direction by Rob Reiner? None. And the results, complete with Freeman as director, are terrific.

odd couple

Carter's crumpled 'bucket list' (you know, things to do before you go to the great round-up in the sky) is recovered from the floor by Cole (well, his earnest assistant, Sean Hayes). Carter has the dreams, Cole has the money and off they go, the perfect odd couple of a sanguine, trivia and general-knowledge buff (Freeman) and a hard-nosed, sardonic, tough round objects down below billionaire (Nicholson).

There are many funny moments as they do the whirlwind of going on a safari in Africa, gazing at the pyramids in Egypt, riding a motorcycle on the Great Wall of China, visiting the Taj Mahal and skydiving with trainer buddies. And Freeman knows something about everything and everywhere. But at every moment the laughs threaten to totally dominate The Bucket List it takes a touching or philosophical turn, which the skill of the writer and actors makes 'uncorny'.

So, after Nicholson comes out of the bathroom of the private plane behind a young woman buttoning her clothes and Freeman, who, he thought was sleeping, gives him a knowing look, Nicholson says "medicinal". They smile, but then Freeman looks at the North Pole they are flying over and The Bucket List turns to discussions of God. Well before the end, the stark contrast of Carter's family life, Cole's emotionally spare existence is a lesson in itself.

twist

In the end, the comedy goes totally as Freeman dies (that twist gets you in the gut) and Nicholson waxes emotionally at his funeral. There is a final twist, tied into the snowy mountain scene the movie ends with, the mountain they did not get to climb as there was a storm when they went there, that is guaranteed to cause a teary smile.

C'mon, you've got to love a movie where Freeman tells Nicholson the two questions the Egyptians said they are asked at the gate to eternity ("Have you found joy in your life?" and "Has your life brought joy to others?") and Nicholson gives his assistant some advice on how to operate when you are getting older: "Never pass up on a bathroom, never waste a hard-on, never trust a fart."

The real low-down: In the end, you feel as if you may just have done what the person who eventually crosses the final and top item on the bucket list did - "witness something truly majestic".

DVD Provided by CariHome