A bucket list is nothing more than a wish list of things that you’d like to do before you die, that is, “kick the bucket,” and people have been making lists like this for a long time. It seemed to me though that discussions of buckets lists ramped up after the release of this movie. It dawned on me one day that I’d never actually seen “The Bucket List,” so I added it to my bucket list just to make sure that I wasn’t missing something important about the subject during my own little bucket list project.
Directed by Rob Reiner, this PG-13 movie was released in the United States on Jan. 11, 2008 and starred Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Beverly Todd and Rob Morrow. Written by Justin Zackman, this 97-minute long movie posted box office revenues of over $175 million. It was shot on a budget of around $45 million. The National Board of Review would also name “The Bucket List” as one of the Top Ten Films of 2007.
“The Bucket List” is about two strangers with terminal cancer who happen to share a hospital room while receiving treatments. One man is an extremely wealthy businessman, while the other is just an average guy who works as a mechanic. When they learn that they only have six months to a year to live, they make out a bucket list and start scratching the items off one by one. They basically go on an around-the-world vacation in which they drive expensive cars, eat in fancy restaurants, fly over the North Pole, go on an African safari, ride motorcycles on the Great Wall of China, skydive and visit the Taj Mahal in India and the pyramids of Egypt.
This movie struck a cord with me on a number of levels. First, it’s a somewhat morbid movie that examines the nature of human existence and reminds us all that our time on earth is limited. It urges us to quit wasting time, to use it wisely and to be thankful for the things we do have. Like life itself, this movie was very funny in parts, but it was also very sad.
I also thought it was interesting that the poorer of the two men in the film was actually the happier of the two. Played by Freeman, the “poor man” was surrounded by a loving family, a warm home and a “rich” life. The wealthy man, played by Nicholson, was literally rich, but he was lonely, without close friends and family and living an empty life. I guess the lesson is that you don’t have to be a billionaire to live your best life.
In the end, I enjoyed scratching another item off my bucket list. How many of you have seen “The Bucket List”? What did you think about it? How many of you have made out your own bucket lists? What sort of items did you include on your list? Let us know in the comments section below.
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