Sometimes, a movie serves simply to put two specific actors together. And if the actors are worth it, you don't mind so much.
So it is with "The Bucket List," which teams Oscar winners Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. They play cancer patients of vastly different backgrounds: Nicholson is a self-involved millionaire, while Freeman is a broader-thinking man of more modern means.
Freeman's character also has the so-called "bucket list," a rundown of things he wants to accomplish while he's still in this world. The concept intrigues Nicholson, who has the money and the machinations (including his own jet) to make those dreams come true, so off they go.
You know going in that a movie such as "The Bucket List" is bound to be sentimental to a certain degree. Director Rob Reiner indulges a bit too much in that element at some points of the story -- which, admittedly, is not out of the ordinary for him -- but thanks to the two pros who are his stars, you may be willing to roll with it anyway.
These parts had to be written specifically for Nicholson and Freeman, since the roles fit the actors hand-in-glove. Thanks to such contouring, maybe they don't have to strive as much as they have in other projects, but there's nothing wrong with that if the performers are as skilled as these two are. They get nice support from familiar television faces Sean Hayes ("Will & Grace") and Rob Morrow ("Numb3rs," "Northern Exposure"), but there's no question who takes the lead here.
If only the script and the more obvious stabs at emotion had been refined a bit more, "The Bucket List" might rank higher on my own list.