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Yar, you be here: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest > Customer Reviews One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest Customer Reviews (10 - 12 of 52 Reviews)"A Rigged Game"
This is a classic film that won the award for best picture in 1975. That shouldn't be a surprise given the all-star cast and an unbelievable script. If you have not seen this movie before, I strongly recommend it. I first saw this film when I was in high school. I was reading the book and needed to give a report on it, so I decided watching the movie would make it easier. I love the movie. But for those new to this movie, you also need to prepare to be very disturbed. "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" is several things: very intriguing, haunting, humorous, disturbing and touching. My mom refuses to watch this movie because it bothers her too much, but this is a movie I can watch again and again. The acting in this movie is absolutely superb! The amazing lineup of actors show us their incredible ability to become their characters and make us believe they are actually "crazy." We start with an old veteran; Jack Nicholson, the novice of disturbing roles. With those conniving eyes and huge mad grin, who could play the role of R.P. McMurphy better? McMurphy is an inmate charged with statutory rape, who basically gets tired of life behind bars and will do anything for a little vacation, even if that means a trip to the funny farm. McMurphy is a master manipulator, and due to his actions in prison, McMurphy was taken to the mental institution to "determine if he's mentally ill." Although the authorities suspect that he is faking everything, McMurphy denies it. McMurphy is instantly entered into a world of pill-popping, poker-playing, unstable therapy-needers, who are surrounded by elevator music, courtesy of Nurse Ratched. It is then that we get to see all these patients and their incredible personalities. The Chief: A huge soft-spoken Native American who has everybody thinking he is really "deaf and dumb." McMurphy actually befriends the Chief, teaching him to play basketball and recruiting him for escape help. They become friends and decide to plan an escape together later on. Billy Bibbett: Billy is my favorite character and Brad Dourif plays him exceptionally well in his film debut. Wild-eyed lady-lover Billy is a young man who has a relentless stuttering problem and a tendency to want to commit suicide. His sweet innocence coupled with his mental situations make him a very interesting individual. Martini: Danny DeVito was just as short then as he is now. DeVito plays the squinty-eyed Martini who has an uncanny knack for being repetitive with words and actions. Harding: Played by William Redfield, Harding is the "intelligent" one of the bunch who is coping with his suspicions about his wife being attractive to other men in his eyes. Some of the patients, especially Taber, enjoy pushing his buttons. Taber: We all know Christopher Lloyd from the "Back To The Future" and "The Addams Family" series. Lloyd was perfectly cast for the role as Taber, with his wide, bugged-out eyes and very loud voice. Taber picks on those who he thinks are full of bull s**** but otherwise, he just goes with the flow. Cheswick: Another one of my favorite characters. Sensitive follower Charlie Cheswick played fantastically by Sydney Lassick, becomes the first patient other than McMurphy to stand up to Nurse Ratched with how he feels, only to end up in line for shock treatment. Finally, there is the dreaded Nurse Ratched. Played by Louise Fletcher in a very convincing performance. Seemingly sweet and soft-spoken Nurse Ratched basically has all the patients wrapped around her finger and under her thumb. In a calmly and coolly manipulative style, Ratched is adamant about keeping the patients at bay with her "carefully planned schedule." There are many more wonderful characters as well including Banchini (aka "I'm tired"), Mr. Fredrickson (You all remember Vincent as Mr. Fargas in "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" and as the Subway Ghost in "Ghost") and his "sidekick" Jimmy. Then there's the "Colonel" with the wide intense eyes, who enjoys mumbling to himself. You'll also see the late great Scatman Crothers as Mr. Turkle, the night monitor whom McMurphy pays with cash and women in exchange for his silence so everyone can have a party. Once McMurphy enters the ward, he gets a first hand look at the lives of the patients and realizes that taking a vacation in a mental ward with the likes of Nurse Ratched around is no picnic in the park. Nurse Ratched does indeed have a carefully planned schedule; a schedule to basically dictate what the patients can and cannot do, and only help them according to her standards. Her idea of helping the patients is to play loud boring music, conduct the therapy sessions as if she is a grade school teacher looking down at her students, and refuse to listen to ideas that could REALLY make the patients feel better. It's almost as if she, in her quiet manipulative way, wants to keep the patients "shrunk down to size" and feeling like they are small people who need to look up to someone smarter that knows what's best for them. In reality, if you treat people like they are "small" than they will feel that way and feel like they have no choice but to do whatever she says. This is the game that Ratched plays with the patients. Nobody bothers to take a stand about what they feel should be done; at least not until R.P. McMurphy comes around and shows them that they are no different than others and that they have a right to have an opinion. That's what makes this film so unique. Here we have a criminal in McMurphy, who knows better than Nurse Ratched about how to work with the patients. Nurse Ratched fails to heed to the fact that there are different kinds of therapy for everybody. So who is REALLY the crazy one here? Is it the group of "mental defectives," or is it the nurse who makes their mental states worse? Let's examine this for a moment: one of the most memorable scenes is when McMurphy confronts Ratched about changing the daily schedule so they can watch the World Series. Knowing that most of the patients are under her thumb (with the rest being too severely out there to know the difference), she agrees to hold a vote. Nine people must vote. It is then that McMurphy realizes just how much power Ratched has over the patients. Only a couple raises their hands to vote despite McMurphy's encouragement. In fact, some of the patients look downright scared to vote. What does that tell you? But it is R.P. McMurphy's way of treating the patients; his jokes, his encouraging words, and overall respect of them being humans like everyone else (only with a few problems), that inspires some of the patients to take a stand and speak up about what they feel. But Ratched's smooth manipulative mode is quick to turn back on again. Let's examine another memorable scenario: Take the ultra sensitive Mr. Cheswick. Normally one who would never have made any comments, Cheswick inquires about what McMurphy had mentioned about the World Series. He tells Nurse Ratched "I've never been to a baseball game and I think I'd like to see one. That could be good therapy too wouldn't it Ms. Ratched?" Now why in the world would Nurse Ratched want to give up her powerful routine because of someone else's opinion and wishes, even if it could help that person? No, her power is more important than helping others. After another vote is held, there are nine patients who vote this time thanks to McMurphy's influence on them. Nine votes. That was the maximum they needed right? Wrong! Now Nurse Ratched decides that the severely mentally impaired people need to count as well (and she knows darn well that they do not have the capacity to vote let alone tie their own shoes). But McMurphy is determined and desperately goes around to the other patients trying to get just one of them to vote. Who gets in a vote? Why it's' none other than the so-called "deaf and dumb" Chief! But even that is not enough. "The vote was closed," Ratched tells McMurphy and promptly turns the elevator music on. So you can clearly see how this institution operates. Everything is controlled by Ratched's iron fist and she manipulates these mentally unstable people to act out in unstable ways and that in turn leads them to the shock treatment room; a place none of them likes to go. It is almost like punishment for wanting something done fair, because really, when these patients act out in their crazy ways, it is over subjects that are completely normal. Like when Cheswick inquires about his cigarettes and why he cannot have them: "I ain't no little kid!" he yells, "What gives you the right to dish out the cigarettes any time you feel like it huh? "I want something done!" Is that not a normal thing to want? Is it not normal for a grown man like Cheswick to want to be treated like an adult and not a child? Isn't it normal for people like Cheswick to want their cigarettes? Let him have his cigarettes. Maybe it's a comfort for someone who is unstable. But no, instead, Ratched continues her degrading treatment by yelling at Cheswick to "sit down," and when he doesn't, he is taken for his shock treatment. So Ratched deprives these people of respect by treating them like children, deprives them of their willingness to speak out (until McMurphy came around), and also deprives them of getting involved in things that they may like to do to make them feel more at ease and more sane. Ratched just basically keeps these people insane with her crude manipulative personality. This in turn creates friction and this in turn makes them seem like they're acting crazy when really all they want is some real respect and some therapy that works for them. Nurse Ratched's way of treating the patients makes McMurphy crazy. You can see that even a criminal would know how to better care for the mental health of the patients than Ratched does. McMurphy gives the patients royal treatment from hijacking a bus and taking them on a fishing trip, to betting with them in poker, to playing basketball with them, to giving them a fantastic night time party with booze, women, dancing and music. The party was supposed to be a last hurrah before McMurphy took off on his escape, but when morning came and Ratched found the rooms in squander, all hell broke loose. Young stutterer, Billy Bibbitt, who for a moment DOES NOT stutter anymore (due to his new sense of self that McMurphy helped him get most likely) commits a terrible act upon himself after trying to explain to Nurse Ratched the situation he was in with a woman (and by the way, Ratched treated Billy terribly in this part; as if he was a bad little boy who had done something wrong). The ending is one of the most disturbing parts of the film. Let's just say that McMurphy is more than a little relaxed after shock treatment and that he escapes with the Chief in a way you may not have imagined. Even with a sore neck, in the end, I'm sure Ratched was pleased. After all, it was McMurphy who came in and tried to give the patients freedom, fun and overall good therapy; something she would not do. With McMurphy out of the picture, she could continue her charade. There is something to be said for heroes that come in the most un-likely forms. In this case it came in the form of a criminal. A criminal who believed what Ratched was doing to himself and the patients was criminal and fought to the end to help the patients find themselves. There is also something to be said for how far one will go to keep power and authority, and this could include a nurse keeping mentally ill patients mentally ill by depriving them and treating them as low, small people. Ratched was willing to go to any length, but so was McMurphy. What an odd pair they make. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why this film won the Oscar in 1975 for Best Picture. This DVD also includes a description of the making of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" as well as cast biographies. It may not be one of those cliché "happily-ever-after" films but it's one of the most unique movies around and you're sure to love the mixture of humor and insanity that makes this film special. I highly recommend this film and hope you'll watch it as much as I do. Yes!
This is a brilliant movie. One of my all time favorites! Instead of just being the watcher, you become a part of this movie. It grabs you! A masterpiece
First off, the acting in this movie is amazing. Jack Nicholson gives the best performance of his life and is simply unbelievable. His performance is in my opinion one of the best ever. Sydney Lassick delivers also an extraordinary performance as Charlie Cheswick. On the other hand, I didn't find Louise Fletcher to do that good of a job. I found her performance to be way overrated and found it to be fairly descent but definitely not worthy of best actress. Now to the movie. Beware if you are sensitive, the movie is very sad and depressing. You'll probably cry at the awful treatment that you see. I found myself cussing at the TV and screaming at nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). I mean, I hated her. I was screaming at her nonstop. She was so awful to everyone. This mental institution is so awful that it is probably making everyone there a lot more crazy than they were. Jack Nicholson is McMurphy, a guy who fakes insanity to get out of prison. He is therefore sent to a mental institution. There, he is the leader. He befriends everyone and is their leader. They love him and he loves them. But, Nurse Ratched and her goons stand in his way to freedom and won't even let them watch the world series. The movie is very sad and touching and the ending is at first terribly depressing and then there is a joyous occasion. The electroshocking of the patients is awful and made me feel like wanting to strike back against this. You'll hate the goons and that stupid nurse Ratched. The movie is haunting and I was so into it that I would be cheering for the patients, laughing with them, crying with them, and hurling insults at nurse Ratched. I was so into it that I'd be like: "You stupid bit**!!! Just let them watch the World Seires! Come on!" I got very emotionally into it and connected with all of the patients. This movie is a haunting journey and the treatment in this institution is criminal and is making all of the patients insane or more insane than they were. This is an excellent movie that is worthy of any serious collection and is in my opinion Jack Nicholson's best movie and his finest performance.
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