Two terminally ill men (Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die.
Usually I'm not really a fan of this type of sappy, heart-tugging movie, but I figured with the pairing of Nicholson and Freeman it had to be a pretty good film. I'm glad to say I was right. It's a bit predictable and tries too hard somewhat to get you emotionally involved, but most of it works. You'll laugh, you'll cry.
The acting is top notch and the movie moves along at a pretty good pace with enough comedic moments to keep the sappiness in check. Seems like with the theme of the movie you'd be depressed by the end, knowing the eventual outcome, but somehow it's more uplifting. It's not as much about 2 men dying of cancer than it is about 2 men learning that you should live what life you have and love your family and friends with all you've got. This is much easier of course if one of you is a multi-millionaire, like Nicholson's character. I mean if I had 6 months to live I'd be happy to go ride a motorcycle on the Great Wall of China or go on African safari. My "bucket list" will have to be a lot more affordable I guess. Perhaps just some baseball games with brats and beer (which at most major league parks probably costs almost as much as going on safari).
It's not exactly ground-breaking or anything, but it's a witty feel-good story that's easy to enjoy.
To quote Nicholson's character, "We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round."
7/10
0 comments:
Post a Comment