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One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest Customer Reviews (31 - 33 of 52 Reviews)

Since most people interested have already seen the movie, it would be pointless for me to give a synopsis. But what cannot be over emphasized is the strong performances from both Jack Nicholson in the lead role as a petty crook commited to a mental institution, and Louise Fletcher as the cold and blunt nurse. Much of the movie centers around the duality between them, and it makes for some great dialogue. Nicely rounding out the cast is a young Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd, obviously in the springtime of their careers.

I held off from getting this movie on DVD because the earlier version was bare-bones and was a mediocre transfer. This newly released 2 DVD set is a fantastic buy, with a whole new video and sound transfer that makes you forget that 25 years have passed since it was made. This is by far the best print ever released. The extras also add good measure, such as the documentary (which is a shorter version of the one found on the laserdisc edition) and full-length commentary from the Director and Producers. While the extras aren't exactly overflowing in this edition, they are worth the price of admission.

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" remains one of the most entertaining and important films ever made, and like other classics such as "Citizen Kane" and "The Godfather", will stand the test of time. It is funny, moving, and tough-provoking, which is a rareity in modern cinema. This new DVD edition is what movie buffs have been waiting for, and is so far the only thing coming close to a definative version.

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One of Hollywood's best.... and an Oscar Grand Slammer too
This movie is far more deserving of the Oscar Grand Slam than "The Silence of the Lambs".
The cast excels in their portrayal: Martini ogling the nude on the card McMurphy shows him, Cheswick shaking his head during the 'therapeutic' Harding-related talk or speaking out to Nurse Ratched (apt name, probably even more apt if spelt W-r-e-t-c-h-e-d) for his cigarettes, the dialogue between the male nurse and McMurphy when the latter is trying to teach the Chief basketball, the Chief's studied expression, McMurphy stirring up the ward while pretending to watch the World Series on a TV that is off, Harding getting picked on by Taber and Sefelt, Taber getting a burning cigarette in his trousers' cuff, the fishing trip with the doctors from the State Mental Institution, Turkle getting bribed into a fine mess, the secret bonding between McMurphy and Chief Bromden.... __SUPERB__ cast, story, pace.
The poignant end makes the movie itself therapeutic and all the more worthy of acclaim.

Wonderful, Disturbing Masterpiece of Film
In 1976, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" won the five top Oscars (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay), and was the first movie in 45 years to do so. It deserved it. This film is inspiring, disturbing, tragic, triumphant, and gripping.

Jack Nicholson, playing the part he was destined to play, is Randall Patrick McMurphy, a rebellious misfit who convinces people that he belongs in a mental institution so that he can get out of a sentence on a work-farm. He arrives on the secure psychiatric ward and runs head-on into a brick wall named Nurse Ratched, played superbly by Louise Fletcher. Nurse Ratched is in absolute control of herself and the ward, and rules quietly and calmly but with an iron fist. The ward is populated with a very strange group of misfits (it is a psychiatric ward after all), including a young Danny DeVito, a young Brad Dourif, and a young Christopher Lloyd. They follow Nurse Ratched's harmonious routine, day in and day out, with all the appearance of striving for improvement, but with no real gains being made by anyone. Of course, the calm, quiet, go-nowhere routine under a serenely despotic Nurse Ratched is loathsome to Randall Patrick McMurphy, and the two elemental forces of Ratched and McMurphy clash and clash and clash. Who wins the battle? In a concrete way, Nurse Ratched eventually wins. On a bigger level, you make the call.

Two supporting actors should also have won Oscars (sharing it would have been perfect). Will Sampson plays a huge, mute Native American who was committed after killing his father (nowadays it would be called euthanasia). He provides the film with one of the most eerily and tragically triumphant endings in movie history (with very eery music to match). Brad Dourif plays a neurotic, stuttering young man who longs to be normal but is terrified of his mother's disapproval (and his mother is good friends with Nurse Ratched).

This movie addresses themes of independence, individuality, the question of where one's personal rights end and society's rights start, and the definition of what is "normal". Who is more sane, Nurse Ratched or Randall Patrick McMurphy? The easy answer is Nurse Ratched. I'm not sure. I wouldn't want either for a next-door neighbor. Watch the movie and ask yourself that question. It's a tough one to answer. A very rich film.