In a strange twist of fate, two strangers from dissimilar backgrounds and with vastly differing temperaments strike up an unlikely friendship when they are forced by cancer to share a hospital room. After learning that they have only months left to live, Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) persuades Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) to set out to accomplish a list of things they both will like to do before they “kick the bucket.” Together, and with the help of Edward’s long-suffering assistant, the pair embark on a trip to several countries in a quest to “witness something truly majestic,” “get a tattoo,” “skydive,” and “kiss the most beautiful girl in the world” among other things. In the process, they receive healing, not physically, but emotionally – a healing of broken relationships and finding lost loves.

In the movie, Carter feels that he has missed out much in life as his circumstances (poverty and family obligations) prevented him from pursuing his dreams of going to college and becoming a professor. When he learns of his terminal illness, he writes off his dreams as “too late” and thus unattainable. His relationship with his wife has also grown bland over the years. Under the (dubious) influence of his new friend, however, Carter discovers the joy of spontaneity, realizing that it is not too late to do the things he wants to and more importantly, rediscovers his love for his wife. Meanwhile, Edward, who is rich but friendless and many times divorced, manages to restore his relationship with his estranged daughter and finds at the end of the day that he too is able to bring joy to someone’s life.

Once in a while, it is refreshing to watch a movie like The Bucket List, that does not include violence or sex or any of the usual Hollywood trappings. Both Nicholson and Freeman give stellar performances; Nicholson’s Edward is a feisty, testy billionaire with a devil-may-care attitude whereas Freeman lends understated elegance to the quietly intelligent car mechanic that is Carter. Despite the weighty issue that the film grapples with, namely cancer and dying, the dialogue is actually quite funny at times and it is a pleasure to watch the on-screen chemistry between the two leads.

The first time I watched this movie I was working at a hospice. Perhaps due to my immediate surroundings back then, I thought the movie was about death and dying. When I watched it again for this review, I realized that more accurately, the movie is really a celebration of life. It reminds us that even at the end of life, some things can still be achieved, like reconciliation and finding joy. The movie also prompts us perhaps to ask ourselves that pertinent question: why wait? The things on Edward and Carter’s bucket list are not necessarily life-transforming or difficult to achieve (it helps tremendously to be a billionaire with a private jet too, of course), and may in fact be things some of us want to do in our own lifetime (spend a week at the Louvre, anyone?), but why wait till one is almost ready to kick the bucket to do them? While it is true that it is never too late to rebuild broken relationships, start helping people or go on that trip you have always wanted to, would it not have been better to just seize the day, today? The movie also reminds me that if we live our lives to our fullest potential and calling in the way God intended, and leaving behind as few regrets as we can manage, then the act of dying merely becomes a passing on, from one place to the next. Writer L. M. Montgomery once wrote, “in death you open and shut a door.” As Christians, we know that there are better things behind that door.

Angeline Chew is formerly a civil servant and volunteer coordinator in a local hospice. She now finds work from home to avoid taking the public transport during peak hours. She worships at Covenant Evangelical Free Church with her husband, Eric.