The Bucket List (Rob Reiner, 2007)

Two old codgers with terminal cancer decide on a list of things to do before they croak and promptly run off and do the lot. Early on, as Jack Nicholson (cast to type as the sarcastic, impulsive curmudgeonly one) ridicules the triteness of the list produced by Morgan Freeman (who is of course the virtuous, salt-of-the-earth cautious one) there's a glimmer of the prospect of a departure from feelgood staples, but this is a Rob Reiner film and saccharine life-affirmation is what you'll get. It would have been interesting to see what they would have done had Nicholson's character not been loaded, but happiness is completely dependent on money in the MOR Hollywood universe and the duo's idea of really living amounts to nothing more than an unimaginative rich man's whistle-stop tour of picture-postcard locations and fine dining. Only the indulgence imbued by the easy interplay of the veteran leads saves it from drowning in schmaltz.

4/10