I’m going to just go ahead and ruin this movie for you. Actually, if you’ve seen a trailer for The Bucket List, you know what to expect. Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) and Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) are going to die before this film ends.

“Hey man, I wanted to see that. Why did you ruin it for me?”

I didn’t, as that’s what this movie is about. Cole is a self-made millionaire whose most notable achievements have been in privatizing various hospitals throughout the country. He claims hospitals aren’t health spas, they are places to heal. Who cares what the rooms look like and so forth? Each room has two beds, for two people, no matter how ill or healthy they may be. It’s the perfect system for him until the day he is tossed into one of these hospitals to be treated for cancer.

His new roommate, Carter, also has cancer. At first, Cole wants nothing to do with his roommate and even suggests being put into his own private room. This doesn’t happen since his strict rules and regulations prohibit such a reward. Should it surprise you that after months of being cooped up together, the two form a pretty strong friendship?

One day they both get some pretty awful news just moments apart - they are each given a year (if they’re lucky) to live. Carter, a philosophical type, writes out a list of various things he’d like to do before he dies. Cole is surprisingly open for the challenges (and rich enough to fund it) and talks Carter into actually going on a journey to fulfill the tasks.

Morgan Freeman often narrates over their adventures all throughout the film but it often feels unnecessary. Even when he presents us with back story, it feels obvious. It’s safe to say that he is probably the best narrator in the world but just because he is in your film doesn’t mean you have to use his voice too.

The Bucket List was directed by Rob Reiner (The Story of Us, Rumor Has It…) who often tackles stories with a heavy amount of emotional baggage, but some of the themes just aren’t as strong as he might think they are. There are little stabs at the American health care system that never penetrate. It strives for a cathartic release it never quite achieves.

The premise does grab you though. Thinking about taking a road trip with Nicholson and Freeman sounds like the best thing ever. Perhaps it would have been in a more serious, less light-hearted film.

“How can a film about 2 guys embarking on a road trip before they die be light-hearted?”

There is a great philosophical question being asked here that never gets a deep enough answer. What do we want to do or accomplish before we die? Why didn’t we make it happen sooner? Carter never did anything he wanted to do, as he chose to support his family instead. Thankfully for him, Cole has more than enough money to fund this adventure. Too bad the trip seems as casual and typical as any other trip they might have gone on; the excitement of traveling around the world right before they die just isn’t present.

If there was a real “bucket list” between these two classic actors, I think they could scratch these items off:

• Act in an emotionally wrought Rob Reiner film.
• Do something for a paycheck.
• Narrate a film with the same tone I’ve used a million other times.
• Stop taking risks.

Perhaps now they can both die happy.