One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

STAR RATING

INFO

Year: 1975
Running Lenght: 2 hrs 9 min.
Rated: R (profanity, violence and brief nudity)
Genre: drama

Cast: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Brad Dourif
Director: Milos Forman
Written by: Bo Goldman, Lawrence Hauben

    Before you go on reading this review, know that this is my personal favorite film ever. Okay then, shall we continue...?

    What makes it so interesting and intriguing about 2 people trying to get the best of each other? Is there something about competition? Is there something about the sexes (man vs. woman)? Is it because of the supporting cast and their fate rests on 1 or the other person? Is it for all of these reasons? Bingo! One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a masterpiece, plain and simple. From the main actor and actress (Jack Nicholson and Luise Fletcher, both taking home the Oscars for that year), to the supportig cast (Brad Dourif (Billy Bibbit) - but after this what did he do? Child's Play?!?!? And Will Sampson (Chief) - Polterguist 2?!?!?! Firewalker?!?!?!) are all superb and perfect for the part. We get to know (almost) each and every character at least a little bit, knowing their place in the institution, and knowing their routine. Thats what makes it so interesting when McMurphy (Nicholson) comes in and tries to change everything, and, somewhat steals Nurse Radched's (Luise Fletcher) part in the institition.

    The characters and the surroundings remind me of 1994's The Shawshank Redemption. And by that I mean we have a scary, unfamiliar place with crooked workers, but we care for all of the characters. We laugh with them. We sympathize with them. We get angry with them. We want to rebel against "the system" with them . We want our cigarettes! ("May I have my cigarettes, Nurse Radched?") It is like a big, messed up family. As I said before, the supporting cast needs NcMurphy's help. In a way they are reaching out for him, so, nobody feels out of place, but it's the other way around. Without 1 person, the other would die. Also, this film helped jump start some actors careers as well (Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito).

    Milos Forman (my 3rd favorite director) loves to make films about a person or a group of people rebelling against some type of "system". This is his bestexample. We have a reason, a cause, the heart of it all, the laughter, the insights, the sadness, the anguish, and the redemption. Mix everything together and you have one of the most powerful films of the 20th century (the ending is my second favorite ending of all time, it WILL give you goosebumps and maybe a tear in the eye).

    I also want to say that I think this is Nicholson's best work (and thats a pretty hard call) coming in second is Chinatown. He was the perfect man for the job (I am glad Gene "Hack"man turned it down). He is a perfect mixture of flamboyant masculinity, shape and destruction. And contrary to popular belief he does NOT over-act in this film (what is over acting anyways?).

    I love this film. It was one of the first masterpieces I have seen, and inspired me to want to direct and write scripts. Every film geek has at least 1 inspirational film, and this is 1 of mine. If you haven't seen this yet, and you call your self a true film geek, you are missing out on something big.

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