Deserves all the praise it gets

Rating: 10/10 (31 July 2014)

It has been almost 40 years since One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest first entered cinemas but its impact has not diminished. Cuckoo's Nest is one of only three films to win the 'Big 5' at the Oscars (Best Actor, Actress, Director, Screenplay and Film) and it is easy to see why. Jack Nicholson excels in the lead role as Randle P. McMurphy, a streetwise conman faking mental illness so he can spend his time in a hospital rather than a jail cell.
Nicholson draws on all his talents as he does battle with the despicable Nurse Ratched, played by Louise Fletcher, who seems to revel in the torment she inflicts on her patients. The conflict between these two characters is the driving force in the film, as Ratched strives to maintain order in the face of Nicholson's gleeful anarchy.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Cuckoo's Nest is how funny it is. There is always a danger, when making a film about mental illness, that the subject matter becomes too dark and depressing. Cuckoo's Nest is able to avoid this by populating the hospital with a number of memorable, and funny, characters. Rather than laughing at the patients and their illnesses, the movie explores their idiosyncrasies and, with stellar support from the likes of Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd, never threatens to mock the characters.
Director Milos Forman handles the pacing perfectly, with the movie flitting between comedy and drama with ease and never once feeling like it is overstaying its welcome. For a film almost exclusively set in one location, it moves along at a rollicking pace, with McMurphy pushing Ratched closer and closer to her limit, until we reach the absolute gut punch of an ending.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is an absolute classic â€“ one of those instances where everything just seems to work together to create something truly special. It contains, arguably, Jack Nicholson's greatest performance, a cracking script handled perfectly by a talented director and one of the most iconic endings in Hollywood history. If you are a movie fan and have not yet checked this out, you owe it to yourself to grab a copy.