The on-screen pairing of Morgan Freeman, the understated and relentlessly classy star of such films as The Shawshank Redemption and Million Dollar Baby, he of the dulcet tones that as narrator led us through March of the Penguins and War of the Worlds – and Jack Nicholson, whose sly smirk and long list of credits need no explanation to anyone who has seen a movie in the past 30 years.

In The Bucket List, Nicholson plays a very wealthy hospital administrator who is diagnosed with terminal cancer and “sentenced” to experience his treatment in one of his own facilities with Freeman, struggling with a similar fate, as his roommate. The fact that Nicholson’s character has steadfastly refused to allow private rooms comes back to bite him in the privacy. We come to learn that for very different reasons, each man has denied his true nature in his life and they decide to create and live out a “bucket list” – things they want to do before they kick the bucket.

The skydiving scenes alone are worth the price of admission! The men bonded as they traveled the world and lived out their last dreams. The situations felt real enough and the laughs were plentiful. There’s a bit of a message that 1. It’s never too late and 2. You’re not really missing anything if you can appreciate what you have.

One reviewer lamented a lack of realism, asking why, if Nicholson’s character had endless money, would he subject himself to a public hospital when he could well afford private in-home care? Piffle! It’s a movie! It was fun and funny and an absolute delight to see these two aging superstars together, acting like and out-acting men half their age.