Post by BlackCatWhiteCat on Jul 8, 2008 20:08:02 GMT -5
It was obvious that this was another saccharine load of Feel Good. The trailer didn't portray a picture that would be particularly moving and no one was buzzing about this movie at all. Yet, I rebelled against these signs because: A) I occasionally enjoy Feel Good sugaryness and B) If I let "buzz" about movies dictate what I saw then I certainly wouldn't be a regular to this forum, now would I?
I didn't do any reading up at all about this film before seeing it, but I felt secure. I have a good eye for what I'll love (Sweeney Todd, Fracture) and what I'll hate (with the one soul-destroying exception of Epic Movie). What falls in between is a coin-toss and a trip to Blockbuster for me.
I knew that it stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman (both of whom I love) with Sean Hayes in a supporting role. I knew that it's about a couple of guys escaping to find their last bit of adventure and excitement in their lives, fulling a list of things do before they kick the titular "bucket". What more is there to know, am I wrong?
Well I am just a bit wrong. I'm sure it's just me, but I was thinking that these two were in a somehow more restricted medical facility than the cancer ward, and would break out to go have insane amounts of dream-fulfilling fun. Instead, their grand "escape" is to check themselves out of the hospital so they can to get to work on a To Do list. At least there was some cool stuff on the list like skydiving (required on ANY Before I Die list), racing classic cars and climbing the Great Pyramids.
Who here doesn't love watching somebody go out and do crazy stuff that would otherwise get one in a lot of trouble/be impossible due to money issues. Really, what other explanation is there for the popularity of the horror that is Jackass? One explanation could be humanity's obsessively sadistic nature, but I refuse to open that can of BDSM worms.
So what we have here are two guys who are terminally ill with cancer: Edward (Nicholson) and Carter (Freeman). They are the quintessential Complete Opposites. Edward is a billionaire who owns a hospital, which he is later admitted to. He's curmudgeonly and stingy and known for his catchphrase of "No private rooms, no exceptions" (or something like that). Oh, the delicious justice when Edwards starts hacking up blood right after saying that very phrase and is stuck in a bed next to Carter. Luckily there was none of the usual arguing or hatred between the two, morphing into a deep, heterosexual man-love. A road far too traveled, if you ask me.
Carter is a soft-spoken, spiritual, hardworking mechanic with a large family. Edward is a boisterous, spoiled, lecherous guy married 4 times with nearly no family to speak of and no faith whatsoever. Ed complains and whines about not having a private room. His PR guy, Thomas (Hayes), refuses on the grounds that it would be image suicide via extreme hypocrisy (what image does a hospital owner have, to worry about, anyway?). This leads to Edward and Carter having lots of quality time together. Carter has been battling cancer in and out of the hospital for awhile now and tries to give Carter handy tips, such as not stuffing yourself full of gourmet food 'cause you just might regret it later. I don't have to tell you that Carter doesn't listen. What I do have to tell you is that I'm considering undergoing LASIK again to try to remove the part of my eye that saw a hospital-clad, geriatric Nicholson in a bowl-legged run for the bathroom, hand on his butt.
The guys spend a long time together in the hospital, form a bond, and get equally terrible news about their time left on earth. This leads to the two deciding that they should go on an expedition to make their last months of living worthwhile. Eddie's got enough money to buy a small country so, as he declares, there is nothing they could dream up to do that he can't finance. How did two guys with no fear of death and no limit of money manage to bore me? I don't know, Hollywood. You tell me.
I'm not saying don't go see it. It makes a good rental if you don't have your heart set on anything else in particular. My big gripe is that things felt rushed. I didn't really care about the characters, except for Ed at the end. There was a horrible absence of just plain fun. I don't know how long their trip lasted but it felt as if they barely got started before they headed back home. Although the writing was good, Nicholson's one-liners got old.
Watching Ed charge full force and literally hurl himself out of a plane with his skydiving partner on his back was good for a laugh. Nicholson really seemed to nail this guy's loneliness and misery during Ed's breakdown at the end of the movie, especially during his crying scene. I know it sounds lame but that really did make me tear up, and I'm not a very emotional person.
Freeman, on the other hand, didn't really affect me either way. To his credit Carter is supposed to be tired and jaded. He's fathered three kids, has a marriage that's more like having a roomie and has dealt with cancer for years. I suppose I should watch it again sometime and keep that in mind. I'll get back to you (actually I won't, and you'll forget about it anway, won't you?)
One last enjoyable bit was the relationship between Hayes and Nicholson's characters. It's an employee-boss relationship, but with the two engaging in some entertaining banter now and again. It isn't hard to see that they really do care for each other deeply (There's the man-love. I knew it was around here somewhere!)
I didn't do any reading up at all about this film before seeing it, but I felt secure. I have a good eye for what I'll love (Sweeney Todd, Fracture) and what I'll hate (with the one soul-destroying exception of Epic Movie). What falls in between is a coin-toss and a trip to Blockbuster for me.
I knew that it stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman (both of whom I love) with Sean Hayes in a supporting role. I knew that it's about a couple of guys escaping to find their last bit of adventure and excitement in their lives, fulling a list of things do before they kick the titular "bucket". What more is there to know, am I wrong?
Well I am just a bit wrong. I'm sure it's just me, but I was thinking that these two were in a somehow more restricted medical facility than the cancer ward, and would break out to go have insane amounts of dream-fulfilling fun. Instead, their grand "escape" is to check themselves out of the hospital so they can to get to work on a To Do list. At least there was some cool stuff on the list like skydiving (required on ANY Before I Die list), racing classic cars and climbing the Great Pyramids.
Who here doesn't love watching somebody go out and do crazy stuff that would otherwise get one in a lot of trouble/be impossible due to money issues. Really, what other explanation is there for the popularity of the horror that is Jackass? One explanation could be humanity's obsessively sadistic nature, but I refuse to open that can of BDSM worms.
So what we have here are two guys who are terminally ill with cancer: Edward (Nicholson) and Carter (Freeman). They are the quintessential Complete Opposites. Edward is a billionaire who owns a hospital, which he is later admitted to. He's curmudgeonly and stingy and known for his catchphrase of "No private rooms, no exceptions" (or something like that). Oh, the delicious justice when Edwards starts hacking up blood right after saying that very phrase and is stuck in a bed next to Carter. Luckily there was none of the usual arguing or hatred between the two, morphing into a deep, heterosexual man-love. A road far too traveled, if you ask me.
Carter is a soft-spoken, spiritual, hardworking mechanic with a large family. Edward is a boisterous, spoiled, lecherous guy married 4 times with nearly no family to speak of and no faith whatsoever. Ed complains and whines about not having a private room. His PR guy, Thomas (Hayes), refuses on the grounds that it would be image suicide via extreme hypocrisy (what image does a hospital owner have, to worry about, anyway?). This leads to Edward and Carter having lots of quality time together. Carter has been battling cancer in and out of the hospital for awhile now and tries to give Carter handy tips, such as not stuffing yourself full of gourmet food 'cause you just might regret it later. I don't have to tell you that Carter doesn't listen. What I do have to tell you is that I'm considering undergoing LASIK again to try to remove the part of my eye that saw a hospital-clad, geriatric Nicholson in a bowl-legged run for the bathroom, hand on his butt.
The guys spend a long time together in the hospital, form a bond, and get equally terrible news about their time left on earth. This leads to the two deciding that they should go on an expedition to make their last months of living worthwhile. Eddie's got enough money to buy a small country so, as he declares, there is nothing they could dream up to do that he can't finance. How did two guys with no fear of death and no limit of money manage to bore me? I don't know, Hollywood. You tell me.
I'm not saying don't go see it. It makes a good rental if you don't have your heart set on anything else in particular. My big gripe is that things felt rushed. I didn't really care about the characters, except for Ed at the end. There was a horrible absence of just plain fun. I don't know how long their trip lasted but it felt as if they barely got started before they headed back home. Although the writing was good, Nicholson's one-liners got old.
Watching Ed charge full force and literally hurl himself out of a plane with his skydiving partner on his back was good for a laugh. Nicholson really seemed to nail this guy's loneliness and misery during Ed's breakdown at the end of the movie, especially during his crying scene. I know it sounds lame but that really did make me tear up, and I'm not a very emotional person.
Freeman, on the other hand, didn't really affect me either way. To his credit Carter is supposed to be tired and jaded. He's fathered three kids, has a marriage that's more like having a roomie and has dealt with cancer for years. I suppose I should watch it again sometime and keep that in mind. I'll get back to you (actually I won't, and you'll forget about it anway, won't you?)
One last enjoyable bit was the relationship between Hayes and Nicholson's characters. It's an employee-boss relationship, but with the two engaging in some entertaining banter now and again. It isn't hard to see that they really do care for each other deeply (There's the man-love. I knew it was around here somewhere!)
"If I'm going to be desensitized into a mindless stock animal, I may as well do it with a cushy ergonomic seat and magnificent THX-certified sound. -Kevin Murphy
I always enjoy having my ego inflated more than my husband already swears it is. The movie WAS very forgettable. It was one of those movies that, immediately when it was over, felt like it hadn't happened at all.