Dagnabity!

Movie: The Bucket List

My Rating: 2 stars

I went ahead and watched this movie.  I admit, I was a little intrigued by the premise, but I mainly watched it because my parents told me they really liked it.  Without this prompting, I can imagine that I would have let this movie wallow for years down in the depths of my Netflix queue.  But, I went ahead and bumped this one up a few hundred spaces and had a look.  And, I thought it was . . . ok.  The basic story follows a pair of terminally ill, old men, as they attempt to tackle the final items on the list of things to do before they die.  Morgan Freeman plays the man who comes from a working class background, and Jack Nicholson plays the wealthy developer who is bankrolling the pair’s exploits.

I guess I’m just not old enough to start feeling my mortality yet, but watching this pair of ornery, stubborn, old codgers waxing poetic about the meaning of life (and totally botching it, by the way) didn’t really speak to me.  Hey, I’m in the midst of my own, self-centered, quarter-life crisis.  We thirty-somethings are very prone to navel gazing.  So, I’m having a hard time sympathizing with old Abner McCrankypants and his laments over not having “seduced” enough Bulgarian hookers in his day.  Old people can be really selfish when they want.  It’s like they revert to being little two-year-olds again.  Oh, I’m perfectly aware that I’m headed there myself.  And, I’ll shake my cane at all the little punks loitering on my lawn like a pro.  But, I’ll address that when the time comes.  Right now I’m enjoying being a delightfully immature, young, professional with no commitments and who is suffering from an acute case of prolonged adolescence.  Hey, it’s hard to feel like a grown up when so many of us are having a hard time finding a real job. Temping will really make you feel like a teenager.  Although, my generation really is having a good time with out Peter Pan Syndrome since we have a little more money in our pockets than your typical teen.  So, cry me a river, you old coots!  Boo hoo, you’ve never driven a Ferrari!  So sad.

So, this movie really wasn’t designed for me.  But, I can appreciate how a different generation of people would really get something meaningful out of it—especially those folks who really haven’t made peace with death yet.  But, even keeping that in mind, I really didn’t like this movie very much.  The characters weren’t that sympathetic, and the script didn’t really do this weighty topic much justice.  I don’t think just ticking items off a list would really lead to much emotional satisfaction.  And, it’s only once you realize that fact that you’d actually be able to enjoy such adventures.  Consequentially, I found these two men to actually be some of the most unintentionally sad, shallow characters ever.  I don’t think that’s what they were going for.  I’d say skip this one.