70's Cool Hand Luke

Rating: Null/10 (3 April 2000)

I've seen One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest more times than I can remember and each time I view it again I'm struck by the parallels between it and the 60's hit Cool Hand Luke.
Jack Nicholson's McMurphy is very similar to Paul Newman's Luke in that they are both in a place where they don't really belong. McMurphy wasn't really crazy and Luke was really only guilty of destructive mischief. They also become the life of their new homes showing their new friends and fellow inmates that they are only broken if they choose to be broken by their jailers. And they both suffer the same fate....
In watching One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest its hard to imagine a film more deserving of the Oscars it received. I must disagree strongly with a previous comment by Brandon (horrormvfn@aol.com) who referred to Louise Fletcher's Nurse Ratched as "soft but strong willed." I consider her to be more of a psychopath than anyone in the movie. She has her ward running in a way that suits her and she isn't going to allow anyone to disrupt it. Just as McMurphy sets out in the beginning to get under her skin she resolves to destroy him to show who is really in control. If Nurse Ratched were a real nurse she would be guilty of malpractice for the things she does in this movie.
The ensemble cast of OFOTCN is a real treat to behold. If you haven't seen this one and choose not to you can't consider yourself a real movie fan.