Two men met at a hospital. Both were dying with cancer. One (Jack Nicolson) was rich but lonely and owns the hospital and its empire. The other one (Morgan Freeman) was poor and surrounded by his family but was burned out from the family and the relationship with his wife. Before exiting the hospital room which they both shared, they came up with a “Bucket List,” a list of things to do before kicking the bucket.

They both proceeded to cross out the bucket list including sky diving, car racing, safari hunting, climbing to the top the Egypt Pyramid, almost reaching the top of the mountain (Himalaya). The poor guy was tempted with sex by a professional hired by the rich guy. During the encounter, he finally realized how rich he was with his family. He returned home. On the way home, he tried to get the rich guy to find the joy of his life by getting him to see his own daughter, who had many years before refused to see him due to his intervention into her relationship with her abusive husband. The friendship came an abrupt stop and then the poor guy died. The rich guy fulfilled his friend’s wish to see his daughter and found his joy and kissed the most beautiful woman in the world – his own grand daughter.

The story line is safely predictable and is nothing but a different and opposite spin of the hero’s journey. But the acting by the two old and skillful actors was simply phenomenal and believable. The roles fit the their personalities rather well. There were so many traveling for the shoot; I bet they had a good time shooting the movie. It’s heart warming to see how a friendship develops so quickly at the time of their personal crises. It probably would never happened normally. And yet the friendship took a turn when a conflict arose and once they resolved the conflict and friendship moved to a higher level, even beyond their own mortality.

I enjoyed the scenery and the movie.