Rating of
4/4
Nicholson's McMurphy in at #22........
Mr. B.K. Tinney - wrote on 05/01/09
One of only three (Silence of the Lambs and It Happened One Night being the other two) films to sweep the Academy Awards with the five major Oscars (Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Direction, Best Leading Actor and Actress), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is still considered one of the best cinematic dramas' ever made. Director Milos Forman used a screenplay co-written by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman and turned it into a magnificent film spear-headed by the brilliant acting performances of Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher. Nicholson, in arguably his career defining role plays Randle McMurphy, a questionable sane man stuck in a mental institution with clearly insane patients. He stirs up trouble immediately and wins the "crowd of crazies" in spite of head nurse Midred Ratched's (Fletcher) dislike and endless will of resistance. Flecther is near perfect as the disheartening voice of authority and Danny DeVito, Brad Dourif, Christopher Lloyd and Will Sampson offer outstanding support as some of the patients in the film. Nicholson, however is simply amazing in his work and it is his brilliance as McMurphy that propels this cast to a whole another level. A truly wonderful classic.
