One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

All I remembered about this film was the last 10 minutes. Yeah, a darn amazing last 10 minutes, true! But I couldn't remember one word of the rest of the film so I knew it was time to see it again. As my ancient movie reviews book at home states (the one I go to when I'm too lazy to boot up the computer), this film works on so many levels. While I think I'd have to start a dissertation to find them all, what I was most impressed by was how Jack Nicholson and, in particular, Louise Fletcher developed their characters. Nicholson plays a man who has compassion for his fellow human beings, no matter whether they're supposedly insane or not, while Fletcher as the nurse has no compassion whatsoever for her patients. Nicholson is the only person who could have played R. P. McMurphy. He makes him completely real and believable. Fletcher's role is much more subtle. You see her character modulate her voice and be consistently polite (although not nice) by using her patient's last names. By creating a character that we can easily imagine meeting, she makes us detest that character more than if it were a black "Darth Vader" caricature. On the other hand, I'm sure that when I watched it before, I sided completely with Nicholson's character. This time I viewed it from more angles, and it made the film that much more complex. Who really is to blame for what happens to Billy? That's a tough question, one which will be part of that dissertation I write. Last word, though: Kirk Douglas, who starred in the play, championed this film for years, and from the beginning thought Milos Forman was the perfect director for it. He eventually passed it off to his son, Michael, to find a producer who would be willing to make it. From start to finish, it took 13 years to make. Definitely better late than never.

year: 1975
length: 133 min.
rating: 4.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073486/combined