One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

more than deserving of oscars won

The first time I saw this movie was on the big screen in '75. At the time I wasn't very familiar with Jack Nicholson but after watching this I realized he was a cut above the rest of the actors in his field. Everyone I knew had gone to see this film and not one person had disliked it. Not sure if any film is perfect but if this one isn't, it's as close as it gets. June 29, 2008

spoilers alert

An underdeveloped story in almost every aspect, it establishes early on Jack Nicholson's character is going to shake up the humdrum lives of the mental inmates and staff, does a competent job of fleshing out this idea in a way that probably seemed more original back in 1975 (this may be sacrilege but I'd recommend watching 1990's Crazy People for a more engaging version of the same thing), and seems to not know where to go from there. The supporting characters barely have identities at all. The attempts to evoke sympathy for the inmates and contempt for the staff only appear in the second half of the film and seem to contradict the amicable relationship depicted previously. Then Jack gets into a fight (i can't even remember why), gets electroshocked (we aren't even shown the nurse giving the order, which would have gone a long way towards validating her supposed villain status), and nothing that happens from then on has anything to do with anything that happened previously. The film closes with the contextless unforeshadowed dramatic inserts of a tragic suicide and a noble euthanizing which made me think SOMEbody's been reading Of Mice And Men, and then a symbolic escape which is the most meaningless thing in the entire film. June 23, 2008

splendid

reead the bok about 20 years ago, never saw the movie. my coworker ar fighting me for the dvd. i'm using it for my class-project about people with psycological illnesses. and it is good. thx. June 15, 2008

Some of the BEST Acting..EVER!!

I've seen OFOTCN a number of times over the years and it never fails to entertain, enlighten and work on a thinking mans conscious like few other films can. Many scenes are sad,tragic and disturbing and the battles waged by Nicholson's McMurphy role are often Quixotic and frustrating. In the end, I came out of this film with feelings of strength and power, as well as an understanding of authority and free will that I challenge and examine to this day.

McMurphy(Nicholson) is hardly a character anyone would like personally, forgiving maybe a quick conversation at a bar or a jobsite. McMurphy is jovial and quick with good natured BS, but is a petty crook, drinker, gambler and habitual loser. Sent from a prison work camp to a sanitarium for a brief evaluation, McMurphy locks heads witht the best player of the film, Louise Fletcher's Nurse Ratched. Methodical, calibrated and passive-aggressive, Nurse Ratched has made her the patients in her small therapy group obedient and broken their wills with a authoritarianism that is subtle and difficult to recognize. As the patients take their daily medication and ponder the hopelessness of their situations, Nurse Ratched coldly humilates her patients with her carefully regulated verbal tone and personality-free interactions.

The therapy group are some of the saddest men you'll see on film- their existense pointless and their therapy for the most part unproductive. McMurphy's arrival in the psych ward to these men is like a breath of Spring air. McMurphy challenges first the protocol of the unofficial leaders of the patients, the "just-a-job-man" orderlies that are quick to use unecessary force, and eventually the whole thought process and the psychological lack of liberty and thought pushed by Ratcheds policies.

Many saw this film in the 70's as a typical "us against the Man" screed, there's much more here. There are undertones that can appeal to many real life scenarios- the rituals of life we never question, our willingness to be lead instead of lead ourselves in times of question. Put your thinking cap on and see this one! June 8, 2008

Moving!

Jack Nicholson (Randle McMurphy) is the lead in this movie, though hardly the only great performer. Louise Fletcher (Nurse Ratched) and Will Sampson (Chief Bromden) also provide outstanding performances.

McMurphy is sent to the mental institution for supposedly deranged behavior, initially is repelled by his fellow inmates, but then rallies to their defense as an anti-establishment reaction to Nurse Ratched's intimidation of them. Even electroshock therapy doesn't stop McMurphy's antics.

However, after another patient kills himself worrying about Nurse Ratched telling his mother about his behavior, McMurphy tries to kill Ratched, and undergoes a lobotomy in retaliation.

The movie ends as Chief suffocates McMurphy so he can "escape" with him and throw off Nurse Ratched's control. June 8, 2008

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