Vacation From Jail Gone Bad

Rating: Null/10 (17 June 2004)

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is a film about a man who is sent to a mental hospital from jail for a psychiatric evaluation. Randle MacMurphy thinks a little time in the mental hospital will be like a vacation from jail. He soon finds out it might not be as easy as he thought. Nurse Ratchett runs the unit he is placed on and she likes things her way, or no way at all. MacMurphy becomes a hero to the other patients by standing up to her, despite the repercussions. On one occasion he and two patients end up with shock treatments. There are several odd patients, but MacMurphy takes an interest in one, a big Indian whom he calls Chief.
MacMurphy pull several stunts from hijacking a bus full of patients to go fishing to bribing a night guard to let two women with booze come in during Christmas.
After a violent attack on Nurse Ratchett, the hospital staff deals with MacMurphy.
The film is set in two places the hospital ward and the fishing trip. I feel the primary message the director is attempting to present is one of total loss of control. Nurse Ratchett easily manipulates the other patients, and MacMurphy finds out that going against her is a very bad idea. I felt at first that MacMurphy was the one who 'flew over the cuckoo's nest,' but instead I think it was the Chief. Throughout the movie, he keeps a very low profile. The staff thinks he is deaf and dumb, but he can hear and talk.
Since I work in a maximum-security mental hospital, I know first hand that the patients who were acting crazy did a great job. We also get patients like MacMurphy who are sent to our facility from jail for acting crazy to keep from going to prison.
The scene where MacMurphy was given shock treatments was so disturbing; nowadays it would take a Doctor months to get the courts permission to do such a treatment. Years ago they did what was necessary. The movie was released in 1975, and I feel it was very well made.