Comedy/Drama. Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Beverly Todd, Rob Morrow

"I love the smell of chemo in the morning..."

Terminal cancer is the unlikely catalyst for a comical journey of self-discovery for two old codgers in The Bucket List.

If Beaches and Terms Of Endearment are the pinnacle of emotionally manipulative chick flicks, then Rob Reiner's new feature is the testosterone-fuelled equivalent, wringing every last tear from its contrived set-up.

Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are perfectly cast as the polar opposites, flung together on a grand adventure that takes in the Taj Mahal, the Great Pyramid of Khufu and the Serengeti.

However, they are on acting autopilot throughout, happily playing to type as a charismatic and cynical ladies man and a calm and caring family man.

Billionaire entrepreneur Edward Cole (Nicholson) has made his fortune by bleeding the American healthcare system dry.

Diagnosed with terminal cancer and given just a year to get his affairs in order, Edward ends up in a room in one of his own facilities, shared with auto mechanic Carter Chambers (Freeman), who faces the same gloomy prognosis. After a fractious introduction, the two old-timers bond and decide to embrace Carter's idea of a bucket-list: pipe dreams to achieve in the little time they have left.

The Bucket List is sporadically amusing and inoffensive.

The film's budget evidently didn't stretch to visiting most of the far-flung locations on Edward and Carter's death list: green screen work is almost laughable in places.

The tear-jerking finale leaves no hoary ole cliche unturned.

When Carter tells his companion, "I've taken baths deeper than you," he might as well be commenting on Reiner's film.

THREE STARS