The movie did not do the book justice

Rating: 5/10 (26 February 2010)

I finished the book a few days ago and immediately went get the DVD since the book was mind blowing. I was even more hyped when realized the movie has won five Academy Awards. As it turned out, however, I was greatly disappointed, as many fans of the books had echoed.
I want to start by stating I have ever expected the movie to follow the book entirely, for it is understandably impossible to cram a 300+ pages story into a 2 hour movie. The main issue I have with the movie is that the director and actors had totally misinterpreted the characters and the core issues the writer of the book wanted to convey.
Nurse Ratched was this machine-like ex-army nurse who represented the oppressive and dehumanized aspect of the modern society; she allowed no one to disrupt her absolute power in the ward and was depicted as a manipulative and tyrannous person in the book. Yet in the movie, she was cold-hearted and sort of oppressive alright, but one who essentially seemed to have the patient's best interest in mind. Who, as a matter of fact, was sort of the victim here, having this random guy messing around in the ward.
And McMurphy. Oh boy, he was the ultimate hero in the book. Flawed and imperfect like the rest of us, he came to the realization that his initial rebellious acts against the Nurse out of selfishness became a ray of hope among the patients. He then came to challenge the Nurse on behalf of the patients, in hoped that by defeating the Nurse, the patients would heal from their sicknesses. In the movie, Jack Nicholson captured the free-spiritedness of the character but no further. His action seemed to be motivated by amusement rather than self sacrifice, which, imo, completely ruined the purpose of the book.
Of course, the movie itself is not bad at all, there were some substantial acting, certain messages worth reflecting. However, if you want to capture the true beauty of the story, I strongly suggest you to read the book instead.