How Do You Know

First Hit: This is one of those “this isn’t a good film” films, but I enjoyed it.

I’m could find lots of reasons to pick on this film, from the lack of authenticity of Lisa (played by Reese Witherspoon) being an Olympic softball player.

To the jocular lines by Matty (played by Owen Wilson) “I only like to sleep with athletes.” Or even the unevenness and lackluster performance by Jack Nicholson (Charles) as a business owner who has set up his son George (played by Paul Rudd) to take the fall in a government kick-back scandal.

The story line is highly improbable and I never got the feeling that these characters could actually exist as portrayed. Lisa gets booted of the team because she’s .7 seconds slower than she was when she was younger (she is in her mid-thirties in this film). She doesn’t know what to do. She dates Matty who is a pro baseball pitcher who has plenty of women, money, and a carefree lifestyle.

Matty actually believes he might be falling for her and knows he is in love because “he wears condoms when he is with other women”. However, Lisa meets George, who is simply a kind, caring nice guy who listens to her and is interested in her.

Yes, the ending is what you think it is, but there are some funny bits and lines and overall the main actors are good enough to make it fun to watch.

Witherspoon is only slightly believable as an Olympic softball player but she is believable as a woman who doesn’t know what it is like to be in a loving relationship. Wilson is his same character he always is; a smiling, laid-back man who is barely awake to the realities of a life other than his own. Rudd is strong in his role; however the whole business scandal didn’t fit him very well. Nicholson was moderately amusing but lacking a soul in his role. James L. Brooks wrote and directed the film, and it was his script that let it down. The direction to the script was good.

Overall: Despite the poorness of the plot, it was overall enjoyable.

The Bucket List

First Hit: There was little realism in the story to support the contention of the men having only 6 to 12 months to live, especially in their post hospitalization release; however the lessons shared and how laughter can make things better were, at times, spot on.

Jack Nicholson as Edward Cole and Morgan Freeman as Carter Chambers are two older men who find themselves as roommates in one of Edward’s hospitals.

Carter is the kind, more centered person and Ed is the hard driving self centered person. Did they type cast this movie or what. This difference in personalities becomes their greatest gift to each other when they both discover they have 6 months to a year to live. Together they make a “Bucket List” of things to do before they die.

Using background shots (Don’t think they even left LA), their adventures took them to various locations around the world including Africa, India, Egypt, and China.

After completing most of the items on the list, Carter decides he must get home to see and connect with his wife and family. Ed on the other hand returns to his big empty modern home and goes through a crying fit in front of two younger women.

Carter dies and at his service, Ed gives a wonderful eulogy which shows how he was touched by the experience and then reads a letter left to him from Carter.

The letter asks him to do one more thing.

Overall: The film made little attempt to embrace realism; however there is enough material with these two great actors to keep your attention, make you laugh, and give pause to one’s own bucket list.