Time is running out for Carter and Edward in the movie;

:The Bucket List...

I recently saw this heart wrenching but seriously funny movie with Mr J. It left us with thoughts of compiling our own ‘Bucket List’.

At dinner later that night, sharing a nice mellow glass of red, Mr J and I talked endlessly about what we would each put on that list and after sharing our deepest desires, we came up with a list that could prove to be life changing.

After sharing this excercise, we believe that we now have a better understanding of ‘what each other wants’ and we feel that we have entered into a new chapter in our lives.

We're already begun working on crossing off some of the items on our list.

The Story...

The idea of this story was conceived a long time ago, when Carter Chambers' philosophy professor suggested that his students compose a "bucket list," a compilation of all the things they wanted to do, see and experience in life before they kicked the bucket.

As a family man, Carter (Morgan Freeman) was trying to identify his own private dreams and plans, and then reality bit. Marriage, children, responsibilities and, ultimately, a 46-year job as an auto mechanic turned his concept of a bucket list into little more than a bittersweet memory of lost opportunities and a mental exercise he occasionally indulged in.

From a totally different walk of life, arrogant, thrice married, corporate billionaire Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) never saw a list without a bottom line. His life revolved around the corporate world and he was always too busy making money and building an empire to think beyond his deeper needs. He lived for power, wealth and a cup of his special gourmet coffee.

Chain-smoking Carter and workaholic Edward, simultaneously and unexpectedly were delivered devastating news.

They found themselves sharing a hospital room (that Edward owned) with plenty of time to think about the cards they were dealt in this life and how they would play them out. For all their apparent differences, they discovered they had two very important things in common: an unrealised need to come to terms with who they were and the choices they'd made, and a pressing desire to spend the time they had left doing everything they ever wanted to do.

They made a pact and against doctor's orders and Carter’s wife’s wishes, these two virtual strangers checked themselves out of the hospital and joined forces for the adventure of a lifetime, crossing off each item on the list as they went.

They travelled the globe in a private jet as money was no object to Edward, they ate at the finest restaurants, visited the pyramids and the seediest tattoo parlours, jumped out of a plane, raced vintage cars, laughed together until they cried and shared the adventure of a lifetime with just a sheet of note-paper and their passion for life to guide them.

They grappled with the big questions - life, their successes and failures and their (sometimes reluctant) desire to make things “right”.

They revisited the past and improved the present. Along the way they became true friends and confidants.

This film may not be everyone’s cup of tea, particularly if you have recently lost someone close. For me the film was touchingly believable thanks to acting prowess of Jack and Morgan, they just gelled.