A touching masterpiece

Rating: Null/10 (19 January 2003)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, based on the best selling novel by the late Ken Kesey, is perhaps the greatest emotional ride in the history of movies. Jack Nicholson plays Randle P. McMurphy, a convicted criminal who pretends to be mentally ill. He is sent to a mental hospital, and he fits in well. McMurphy observes the sometimes degrading life at the asylum and does outrageous things to try and make the patients realize that there's so much more to life than what the nurses tell them. Nurse Ratched (Louise Flethcer) becomes annoyed by McMurphy's behavior, and tries to stick to her own plans for the patients rather than allow his activities. Randle makes many touching outreaches to the patients, such as the quiet Chief Bromden (Will Sampson), who is taught how to raise his arms into the air and put a basketball in the net. These scenes are some of the greatest in film history. I just loved the part where McMurphy gets a 10 out of 18 vote to watch the World Series, yet Ratched rejects it because the meeting held during the voting was over. But he fills the void by shouting out commentary and exciting the others. The "He hits a f****** home run!" line cracked me up. The moments in this movie are moving and hilarious, like when Randle takes the boys out for a fishing trip and when he hides his medication in his mouth and spits it at one of the patients. Overall this movie is actually as much of a comedy as it is a drama movie. And the drama is very powerful as well. The ending is sad, but it is fantastic.
To support the classic moments, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest has a wonderful cast that features Danny Devito, the entertaining Christopher Lloyd, and Brad Dourif, who recently appeared in Lord Of The Rings and The Two Towers. Jack Nicholson himself provides one of the greatest performances ever. This flick is a true delight to anyone who watches. I can guarantee it.
**** and a half out of *****