Cancer is one of the few subjects that are hard to make funny. It’s an energy-sapping, life-taking disease that brings nothing but sadness to the victim and their loved ones. Hollywood has tackled the daunting task of livening up terminal illness before but The Bucket List possesses a very specific trajectory. Once again, trailers promise us the stars but the full-length film doesn’t provide quite the shine audiences may be expecting or hoping for.
When wealthy health care tycoon Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer he just wants to be alone. Instead, he shares a hospital room with Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman), a former auto mechanic. At first cynically amused by Chambers’ optimism, Cole aims to help his roommate realize his ‘bucket list’- the things he would like to do before he dies. Spending Cole’s money like kids in a candy shop, the two men set out on a globetrotting road trip to make the most of life while they still can.
One thing this film has in droves is chemistry. Freeman and Nicholson are two of Hollywood’s living legends and their collective acting prowess is on display in this film. The script caters to both men’s perceived types: Nicholson is sarcastic, witty and just a wee bit angry at the world; Freeman is the likeable straight man whose honesty is endearing and sense of humor is subtle but always perfectly-timed. They feed off each other like seasoned veterans of the big screen ought to.
Looking at it from 30,000 feet, The Bucket List is a bit clichéd and convenient. It’s yet another upper-class meets lower-class buddy film in which the rich guy gains an understanding and appreciation for the ‘little guys.’ As good as Nicholson and Freeman are, you can’t hide the convenience in teaming up with a super-rich guy to live out a few dreams. If you’re of the crass and cynical sector of moviegoers, this is how you’ll probably see the film.
If you don’t mind a retooled plot now and again, the worst thing you can say about this film is that it’s not as funny as it was hyped up to be. Nicholson has the ability to leave you in stitches when he isn’t indulging himself with dark roles. Freeman has always been able to make crowds smile and laugh in the right roles as well. Perhaps it’s the subject matter or the script that does the film in.
Much of the antics look like a lot of fun but could they feel too familiar to achieve maximum effect? Or is the weight of their cancer affliction too heavy a burden to allow us to fully enjoy their embracing of life? It’s hard to put my finger on it but I think it may have something to do with knowing a downer ending looms on the horizon no matter what comedy hijinks come our way. It allows us to guard ourselves from becoming emotionally attached to these characters, a critical element of any story. Yes, I think that must be it. The Bucket List is a pretty decent movie but your conscience might prevent you from having as good a time as the filmmakers aim for.
This is a very bizarre film. In fact, it’s more of a character study on film than an actual film itself. Jack Nicholson delivers a solidly subdued performance as a newly retired man struggling to find purpose in his life. Nicholson’s performance, while excellent, isn’t enough to make up for a film that seems to lack a point until the final reel.
Jack Nicholson plays the titular character, a curmudgeonly sort who was good at what he did for a living (an actuary for an insurance company) but probably never got much true satisfaction from it or anything else in his life. He seems to have either gone through the motions of a “normal” life of getting married and having a child or his actuarial skills silently alienated him from his family and vice versa. Either way, retirement brings Schmidt face to face with his utterly boring existence and he can’t stand it.
While channel surfing, Schmidt happens upon one of those commercials asking you to adopt a child in a foreign country by donating only a few dollars each month. Schmidt calls the number and signs up for the program. The unsettling thing in this is that he seems to do so out of sheer boredom or curiosity rather than compassion.
Several times throughout the movie, Schmidt writes to his adopted African child, a boy named Ndugu. This results in lengthy voice-over monologues, in which Schmidt cynically relays his displeasure with whatever the current state of his life happens to be. It’s all sure to go straight over Ndugu’s head and I seriously have my doubts that any decent-minded person would read such tirades to a young child.
In the end though, I think I would have preferred to have been in Ndugu’s shoes. Seeing what Schmidt goes through and becomes during the course of this movie is both frustrating and discomforting. Yes, there may be an endearing moment now and then, but Schmidt only appears to change at the end of the film. Even then, we don’t really see how he’s changed or how much he continues to change his life after that moment. It’s an incomplete picture and the part which we can see is only beginning to look appealing.
The fact that this film runs just over two hours long makes it an exercise in endurance. Just how much of this guy can you tolerate? For those who enjoy or can handle dark humor and cynical wit, About Schmidt may only get a little bumpy. Anyone else may find this film to be exhausting and boring.
It’s not a train wreck though. Nicholson’s performance is very strong and he handles all the situations that get thrown his way with deft skill and precision. He never seems to break character and with a film like this, that’s an accomplishment. Nicholson never seems bored with the role. Rather, he immerses himself in it and pulls out all the stops you could imagine for a boring, Midwest member of the AARP generation. Nicholson gives Schmidt life, which makes the film’s climax all the more moving.
From suffering through his wife’s untimely death to traveling across the country, to try and prevent his daughter from marrying a dim-witted waterbed salesman, to receiving a letter that opens his eyes and changes his life, Nicholson makes Schmidt real. It’s a very boring and depressing kind of real, but for an actor not known to use a lot of restraint to create such a restrained and timid character is really impressive.
Nicholson’s performance saves the film. Had anyone but him been cast as Schmidt, this film would have been an utter failure. The supporting cast does a good job presenting dysfunctional and very real characters, but Nicholson is the rock of this film. Though About Schmidt makes for an interesting character study, there needs to be more than just one fantastic performance to make a movie something special.
After finally seeing this film, I was surprised that it managed to win Best Picture at the Oscars. When I think of the Oscars I typically think of films like Gone With the Wind and Casablanca, or West Side Story and (sadly) Shakespeare in Love. Majestic in scope and in some cases artsy, these are the movies that seem to typify what is Oscar material.
The Departed, at first glance is anything but. This is such a guy movie it’s not even funny.
A tough, raw, intense police drama with a stellar cast (can any film with a Baldwin in it claim to have an all-star cast?) grabs you by the throat and won’t let go until it's done telling its story.
Okay, that’s a bit much. There are some slow scenes and it's not all action. In fact, there are some points where I found myself confused as to just what is going on. Fortunately, director Martin Scorsese straightens out this convoluted thriller come the final reel (and what a reel!).
This is a very smart film and treats its thinking viewers with a myriad of twists, turns and plenty of jolts along the way. I can almost guarantee that you will gasp and/or flinch at least once during this movie from all the drama. The Departed is simply a film that is very well put together. With this in mind, it really isn’t so surprising that it won Best Picture. It also helps that the Academy felt particularly bad this past year about neglecting Scorsese all this time.
The Departed certainly fits into the lexicon of Best Picture winners that are very well made, like Platoon, Rocky and The French Connection. Maybe it’s not quite the best picture of the year, but you’d have a tough time faulting the Academy for it.
And I guess that’s what The Departed boils down to- it may not be the greatest picture of the year, but it is one of the most complete in terms of its scope. The acting is brilliant and believable (notably only the third time I can honestly say that I enjoyed Leonardo DiCaprio's performance); Scorsese and his crew work their magic with editing, the soundtrack and score; and the story itself is very well written. But that can’t quite make up for two hugely important factors- 1) This film is a remake of film from Hong Kong called Infernal Affairs, and 2) while the film has many strengths, it doesn’t quite have the staying power that other Best Picture winners have had.
While I have never seen Infernal Affairs, and although this American version was rewritten and likely differs in ways from the original, it’s impossible to escape the stigma that a film is a remake. Instead of Hong Kong, we get Boston. A newly graduated policeman (Leonardo DiCaprio) is hired to infiltrate a notorious gangster’s (Jack Nicholson) criminal empire. Along the way there is denial, deception and death. Things are never quite what they seem, which is the film’s key strength, but it is a bit of a slight to the mind of the viewer to realize that the premise did not originate from the filmmakers presenting it. This isn’t the first time this story has been told, and we have to wonder, has it been done better?
Whatever the answer to that question is, The Departed is undeniably one of the best films of 2006. Whether it was intended to be commercially successful or just appreciable from a film lover's point of view is irrelevant. It was a huge hit, but I doubt it will be remembered as fondly as many of Scorsese’s other works. It is, to date, Scorsese’s highest rated film on my list, but hardly the most memorable.
In the pantheon of Oscar winners for Best Picture, I have a feeling that The Departed is more likely to fall by the wayside like The Last Emperor or The English Patient rather than engraining itself in minds and becoming a commonplace reference in our culture like Forrest Gump, Rain Man or Silence of the Lambs.
