Two older men, both dealing with cancer, come together to check off the items on their bucket list before they die. The men, Carter Chambers and Edward Cole, were played by actors Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson respectively. Chambers, who is African American, worked as a mechanic and considered himself an intellectual. In contrast, Cole, Caucasian, was a businessman and billionaire. The two could not have been different and in the real world they most likely would not have been a couple. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay An unlikely couple, Cole and Chambers meet while in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy as they painfully wait to find out if they will survive. The two men were very different, one a worker who had been married for over forty years and the other a self-centered, distrustful billionaire with little integrity, divorced four times and estranged from his daughter. The only thing these two had in common was cancer and during treatment the two became friends. Faced with just one year to live, Cole and Chambers ponder how to live out what remains of their lives. Cole comes across a bucket list that Chambers had discarded that included items such as helping a stranger and essentially challenges him to think on a larger scale, specifically traveling around the world with him (Reiner, 2007). So, the couple travels the world sharing wonderful experiences, such as riding a motorbike on the Great Wall of China, jumping out of a plane and flying over the North Pole. Throughout their travels, the couple has an ongoing conversation about the meaning of life. Everyone approaches death from a different perspective. Cole perceives that we live and die and that the wheels keep turning (Reiner, 2007). On the other hand, Chambers believes in God and proclaims his faith. Through this ongoing conversation they both learn from each other. Chambers discovers that Cole has become estranged from his daughter after pushing away her abusive husband. Sitting atop an Egyptian pyramid and overlooking the valley below, the two discuss how the Egyptians perceived death. To clarify, after death and after the soul ascended to the gates of Heaven, they were asked two questions about their life and how they answered determined whether or not they could enter. This conversation led Chambers to realize that his relationships were significant and that his family was extremely important to him. Cole, on the other hand, simply focused on the wish list. After the couple returned to the United States, Chambers attempted to reunite Cole and his estranged daughter, which upsets Cole. Defensively, Cole wonders what the trip meant to him, how the reconciliation would play out, and blurts out that he doesn't want to die. Alone. This exchange led to the men parting ways and vowing never to speak to each other again. After learning that his cancer had spread to his brain and he died during surgery. She left a letter for Cole thanking him and asking him to seek and find joy in his life. This led to Cole's reconciliation with his family and daughter. Ultimately, Cole recognized the value that meeting and traveling with Chambers had for him and hoped that Chambers would be waiting for him when he died. Cole died at the age of eighty-one, and his and Chamber's ashes were placed on a peak in the Himalayas. Coaching Implications Cole and Chambers' journey consisted of moments of inspiration and discovery from two men who wanted to live a fulfilling life. Like a life coach, the film causes the viewer to stop, reframe the way they see life and take action. Even though neither of them were a.
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