Crazy Enough for Ya?

#33—One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

A wise man once said that “How do you know you are crazy? Crazy people don’t know they are crazy.” Ironically, Hollywood has played with that notion with some movies that have been produced over the past few decades. Girl, Interrupted, for example, is about a young woman who believes that she is troubled but soon finds that her problems don’t outweigh the problems of the other patients around her. #33 on the American Film Institute’s Top 100 list is similar, however the main character of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest knows he isn’t crazy, he just has to prove that to the doctors.

Randle Patrick "Mac" McMurphy (Jack Nicholson Chinatown) is a small time felon that has just been transferred from a prison farm to a state psychiatric institute. Not displaying any signs of mental illness himself, McMurphy is soon engrossed in the patients around him. McMurphey feels that he can help with his fellow patients’ problems, but is thwarted at every turn by the authoritarian head nurse, Nurse Mildred Ratched (Louise Fletcher Cruel Intentions).  What McMurphy doesn’t realize is that the hospital now has the power to keep him within their walls and if he doesn’t play by their rules he will be staying indefinitely.

Going to fully admit, for me One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is an extremely hard film to praise and give reasons why. I love this film, but without going through the same ol’ excuses why there are really no words on to say why it should be on this list. One of only three films to win all five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay), so there is a reason why this film is considered one of the greatest ever made. I would like to think it is the rebellious feeling you will get after watching the movie. At least it is that way for me.

Randle McMurphy is hands down Nicholson’s best performance. Nicholson becomes the most unlikely leader of this group of patients in their mutiny against the evil head nurse. Nicholson just brings this oddly warmth and charm to a despicable character that you really should dislike from the beginning. McMurphy is imprisoned for statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl and yet Nicholson is able to win the audience’s heart with his wit. Playing villain to Nicholson’s hero is Louise Fletcher who is as stone faced as anyone I have ever seen on screen. Strictly business, Fletcher hardly cracks Ratched’s hard exterior and has made Nurse Ratched tantamount to a totalitarian ruler.

Among the notable attributes this film has, the film’s direction is one that my favorite. Milos Foreman (Man on the Moon) creates such a drab/boring world around the firecracker that is McMurphy. The bland color tones and dreary scenery gives the audience the feeling of hopelessness during the beginning and somehow changes when McMurphy enters the hospital. Foreman also relied heavily on the natural reactions of his actors which gave the film a more realistic feel. Instead of keeping the camera on the actor speaking, Foreman would give the audience of view of someone else in the scene to show their reaction to what was going on.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest rests within my top 10 films of all time, but yet sometimes I really can’t explain why. The feeling of rebelliousness and, strangely, accomplishment always rushes over me when I watch this movie. Of course this is also the film that made me fall in love with Jack Nicholson. This is another film that should be on everyone’s “Before I Die” lists. If not for Nicholson’s carefree attitude than definitely for Fletcher’s icy stares.

The Verdict: Perfect Place.