One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

1975 movie that should be on everybody's top-500 list

Rating: 20/20

Plot: McMurphy is lazy. Unfortunately, he's also a criminal and has to serve time in prison where they'll make him work. But he's got a plan--pretend to be insane so he can be transferred to a mental institution and serve out the remaining days of his sentence without having to work. He adds a little chaos to the gentle existence of the asylum, changing a few inmates' lives for better or worse. He also finds an enemy in the head nurse--Nurse Ratched.

I could have sworn that this came out in 1973.

First off, I'd like to point out that I don't see Nurse Ratched, stoically played by Oscar winner Louise Fletcher, as the real villain. She's a bit passive-aggressive maybe and gets on McMurphy's nerves, more as a symbol or maybe as a woman than through anything she actually does, but it's not like she's outrageously malicious or anything. McMurphy's biggest antagonist is himself, and each time I watch this, I see Nicholson's character as a failed Christ figure who, although he does do his part to save a soul in the end, ends up getting in the way of himself as he tries to do fulfill whatever mission he might have. He takes his "disciples" fishing, retiring to the bowels of the stolen ship in order to have sexual relations with a woman (don't think Jesus did that), and botches a few miracles. Jack's electric in this, really one of my favorite acting performances ever. I love the last moments of the big going-away party at the end when McMurphy sits and waits for Billy to finish doing his business. There's an extended shot of just Jack's face, and his expressions in that fifty seconds or so show loss, optimism, fear, indecision, happiness. Amazing stuff. But the ensemble cast around Nicholson is also great, portraying these crazies in a way that doesn't blow them up into comic figures (though there is plenty of comedy here) but creates these very human moments where you really feel the characters' pain. Observe that first therapy session--you have the circle of guys who can communicate, eventually fit in with society again, or whatever surrounded by all the lunatics who will never fit in again, the ones who stand in the background staring at nothing, hit a punching bag with a cane with a persistence that makes him almost a hero, or elegantly dances to the music in his head. I really like the expression on Harding's face when he realizes that nobody will help him with his problem. During that entire scene and probably all the conversations the "group" has, director Forman uses close-ups and distance shots perfectly. Danny DeVito (I'm counting him as a little person, by the way) is really good as Martini, William Redfield could easily have won something as Harding, Christopher Lloyd plays ornery and angry so well as Taber, and Brad Dourif and his Lyle Lovett-esque hair are heartbreakingly good as Billy and Billy's hair respectively. And Will Sampson is unforgettable as the Chief. I love that scene where he's striding across the court during that basketball game, the first time his character shows any personality whatsoever. He says so much for being a mute. I also like the nurse who is always with Nurse Ratched but whose only line is a lengthy scream near the end of the movie. When I saw this movie as a youngster, its themes of conformity and freedom resonated. I think it's captured best in the looks on the inmates' faces when Nurse Ratched asks, "Did Billy Bibbit leave the grounds of the hospital?"

Now, let's see why this isn't on Cory's top-500 movie list.

15 comments:

l@rstonovich said...

Yes. I love when you give 20's to 20's.

cory said...

My list is a favorite 500, and so any film that beat "Jaws" out for Best Picture, and is generally as depressing as hell might not make it. If it were a greatest movie list "Cuckoo..." would easily be in my top 200. In a previous list it was just in the 500, but now would be slightly below. The acting is amazing (especially Nicholson), and it really gets under your skin. A 17.

Barry said...

I have never seen this, nor will I ever see it. It beat Jaws for best picture.


I know the entire story though, and that is also a reason I will never see it.

Shane said...

I'm floored. I haven't felt this way since 9/11.

Shane said...

One other thing: I've never thought of this movie as "depressing"...it does have a very happy ending after all.

cory said...

Only if you're been lobotimized.

cory said...

See, I can achieve a typo in just five words. That's skill.

Shane said...

Huh? I'm "lobotomized" because I think this has a happy ending?

cory said...

You see, it was a play on the fact that Jack had been lobotomized. He might have been mindlessly content, but I was bummed. And now I have spoiled the ending for Barry.

Shane said...

Jack's not the main character though. It's a happy ending for our main character. Jack's a lazy jerk so nobody cares if his ending is bad.

And it should be noted (to further spoil things for Barry who, by the way, said he'll NEVER see this movie) that the lobotomy wasn't Jack's end in the movie.

I'll go ahead and throw this out there, too...'Jaws' is a good movie, really good for what it is, but it was likely the fifth best movie in that Best Picture race. I haven't seen a couple of those in a long time, so I can't emphatically type that.

cory said...

OK, I'm just going to pretend you didn't imply that Barry Lyndon (can barely remember it after five years), Nashville (washed-out pretentious snoozefest), and Dog Day Afternoon(great but slightly dated) are better than Jaws.

...and Jack certainly is the main character. Are you saying it's the Indian?

cory said...

You're right about one thing, though. The lobotomy was not the end for Jack. After that it got even more upbeat and fun.

Shane said...

Yeah...Ken Kesey told me. Lobotomized or dead? It would have been worse for Jack.

cory said...

True story: Kesey used to come through the Eugene airport regularly (like all great men he lived in Springfield at one point and went to the U of O),and had a small suitcase shaped like a fish. I never thought to ask him about who the main character was because it never occurred to me that someone would ever say it wasn't Jack.

Shane said...

I've started a petition to make Barry watch this movie. So far I'm the only person who's signed it, but I signed it three times with three different names. How many fake names is it going to take, Barry?