The Bucket List

Two men, blue-collar mechanic Carter Chambers (Freeman) and billionaire health care magnate Edward Cole (Nicholson) meet for the first time in a hospital that Cole just bought after both have been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Cole wants a private room, but his own public statements, which state that in his hospitals, all rooms are double-occupancy for cost-efficiency, get in the way.

Carter is a gifted amateur historian and family man who wanted to become a history professor in his youth but never rose above his status as a mechanic. Cole is a four-time divorced health care tycoon and cultured loner who enjoys tormenting his personal valet/servant, Thomas (Sean Hayes) —who later reveals his name is actually Matthew. Cole enjoys drinking kopi luwak, one of the most expensive coffees in the world.