The Bucket List

Some of the movies they showcase on HBO nowadays seem to be real goodies. I sat through "The Bucket List" a couple of days back and its a wonderful movie (well - understand that these things are quite subjective - so better to say that I appreciated it).

I would have flipped the remote button had I not seen Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman sharing on-screen space. Might be something interesting I felt and watched on.. And it was. The plot is lightweight, there'z almost no action but the dialogues are good and often hilarious at times. Two diverse people meet in a hospital room, become friends and try to complete the "bucket list" - a list of tasks that one of them had planned to do before he dies.

The are some superb dialogues interspersed in the movie. Some of them have that "Zen" touch to it. Like when Morgan tells Jack - “The Buddhists believe you keep coming back, moving up or down based on how you lived your life.” And Jack - the atheist says - “See, that’s where they lose me. I mean, what would a snail have to do to move up in the lineup? Lay down a perfect trail of slime?”

Especially I liked the Egyptian test that Morgan narrates to Jack. It seems that ancient Egyptians, after death, were asked two questions before they could enter heaven

1. Did you have joy while on earth?
2. Did you bring joy to others in your lifetime on earth?

So very elegant in summing up the gist of what you should have achieved in a lifetime on earth. At a micro level, isn't being able to answer these two questions with a 'yes' - the key to satisfaction and success in anything we do.

Overall nice, quiet movie and since they anyway subtitle movies nowadays, you don't miss the interesting dialogues too.