Best film ever made about disabled people and institutions.

Rating: 10/10 (3 December 1999)

While Jack Nicholson, Brad Dourif, and Louise Fletcher take top honors for their portrayals in this film, as they should, the whole point of the film as an expression of outrage against how people are marginalized in our culture, was made by Christopher Lloyd's character. Mr. Taber (Lloyd) drops a cigarette in his pants cuff unknowingly, and it sets the pants on fire. When he reacts to the burning and danger by jumping around and yelling, he is dragged off and tied down. People who are handicapped or mentally ill cannot express anger or fear or desire or even pain, without it being seen as a threat. The real handicaps here are the "normal" people in the "helping professions." Best movie of all time.