Review: ‘Bucket List’ lacks originality; ‘Dewey Cox’ hits mark

Directed by: Rob Reiner

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes

Rated: PG-13

Rob Reiner’s track record is a movie studio’s dream. He’s directed a hefty handful of box office winners including “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally …,” “Misery” and “A Few Good Men.”

Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are two sure-bet box office draws.

And having a plot featuring two old codgers with terminal illnesses who are out for one last wild ride is a storyline that will bring the “We don’t go to many movies, but ...” crowd out of the woodwork.

So what can go wrong?

As far as box office receipts go, nothing. Reiner’s new film, “The Bucket List,” has taken in more than $42 million since its official release four weeks ago.

That’s not a surprise.

“The Bucket List” isn’t a bad film by any means, but it’s not close to being a great film. Very early on, the astute viewer will realize he is being manipulated in perfect Hollywood melodramatic style.

Nicholson has played rapscallions before, but when Edward Cole, his billionaire CEO of a medical corporation, first appears here, we wonder what redeeming value this character might possibly have. Cole buys hospitals and strips them down to the bare essentials. One of his rules is “I run hospitals, not health spas. Two beds to a room. No exceptions.”

So one finds it unbelievable that when Cole is diagnosed with cancer, he chooses to go to one of his own hospitals rather than a private clinic, which he can obviously afford.

The second bed (no exceptions, remember) in Cole’s room is occupied by Carter Chambers (Freeman), a mechanic who, though self-taught, seems to be a fountain of knowledge. Chambers is a down-to-earth guy, married with three grown kids, who knows every answer to every “Jeopardy!” question, every day. Ken Jennings has nothing on Carter Chambers.

Carter and Cole forge the most unlikely of friendships and decide – using Cole’s money – to take off around the world fulfilling their “bucket list,” a list of things they want to do before they kick the bucket.

The film is a buddy movie with a good deal of travelogue thrown in. But the exotic locations – the Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, etc. – have a decidedly fake look. Reiner may have done this on purpose as a tribute to the lavish Technicolor epic films of yore.

“The Bucket List” plays out exactly as you know it will and, as said, it’s not bad by any means. There will surely be many a tear shed. It’s just all a bit saccharine for my tastes.

But who knows – maybe I’m being a bit too cynical, and the film will be heralded as a “Capraesque” endeavor.

“Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”

Directed by: Jake Kasdan

Starring: John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Kristen Wiig, Tim Meadows

Rated: R

Anyone who has ever been involved in an organized musical group is surely bemused at the countless scenes in music biopics wherein an artist picks up a guitar, sits at the piano or just starts singing a new song and within seconds, the rest of the band is playing along and singing backup. And they know the harmonies and lyrics. Even when the talents are as undeniably great as Ray Charles or Johnny Cash and the musicians they were surrounded by, it’s really not that easy.

The “instant recognition phenomenon” and other biopic clichés are explored, exploited and parodied in Jake Kasdan’s hilarious “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.”

Co-written and produced by Judd Apatow, who also produced “Superbad,” “Knocked Up” and “Anchorman,” “Walk Hard” is this year’s “This Is Spinal Tap.” It cops obvious chunks of “Walk the Line,” “Ray” and “The Buddy Holly Story” as well, but it doesn’t stop there. The film references works as diverse as “King Kong” and “Don’t Look Back” and delivers it all in a slightly toned down “Airplane!” style.

It’s hilarious from the start – when two young brothers go out to play pronouncing, “Nothing can go wrong, we’ve got our whole lives ahead of us” – to the finish – 60-some years later with Cox and band hobbling to the stage to accept a lifetime achievement award.

John C. Reilly plays Dewey Cox and does all of his own singing, in a wide range of styles. Cox starts out as a Johnny Cash/Buddy Holly amalgam – it’s hilarious to see Reilly playing him as a 14-year-old, towering above his bandmates – but during the film he becomes a balladeer, a Bob Dylan type, a Brian Wilson type, a disco star and hosts his own variety show. He meditates (and drops acid) with The Beatles in India and invents punk rock two decades before The Ramones and The Sex Pistols brought it to the fore.

Of course Dewey has marital problems and endless drug problems – these always begin with his drummer, played by Tim Meadows, telling him, “You don’t want any of this (stuff),” while extolling the glories of the particular substance.

The stilted dialogue reminds us of every movie where the actors feel the need to explain what’s going on. Cox doesn’t say, “Hi, John.” He says, “Hello, John Lennon ... of The Beatles.”

Fans of popular music and the musical biopic will get the joke, and Kasdan, Apatow and Reilly are talented enough to pull it off throughout the film.

More Moxie

Showings of the Bob Dylan flick “I’m Not There,” reviewed last week, have been added at The Moxie Cinema. It will play until Feb. 5.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield freelance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.[[In-content Ad]]