One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ★★★★ 1975 (R) Touching, hilarious, dramatic, and completely effective adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel. Nicholson is two-bit crook Randle Patrick McMurphy, who, facing a jail sentence, feigns insanity to be sentenced to a cushy mental hospital. The hospital is anything but cushy, with tyrannical head nurse Ratched (Fletcher) out to squash any vestige of the patients' independence. Nicholson proves to be a crazed messiah and catalyst for these mentally troubled patients and a worthy adversary for the head nurse. Classic performs superbly on numerous levels. 129m/C VHS, DVD. Jack Nicholson, Brad Dourif, Louise Fletcher, Will Sampson, William Redfield, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Vincent Schiavelli, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco, Louisa Moritz;
Director:
Milos Forman;
Writer:
Ken Kesey, Bo Goldman;
Writer:
Haskell Wexler, Bill Butler, William A. Fraker;
Cameo:
Jack Nitzsche. Oscars '75: Actor (Nicholson), Actress (Fletcher), Adapt. Screenplay, Director (Forman), Picture; AFI '98: Top 100; British Acad. '76: Actor (Nicholson), Actress (Fletcher), Director (Forman), Film, Support. Actor (Dourif); Directors Guild '75: Director (Forman); Golden Globes '76: Actor—Drama (Nicholson), Actress—Drama (Fletcher), Director (Forman), Film—Drama, Screenplay; Natl. Bd. of Review '75: Actor (Nicholson), Natl. Film Reg. '93;; N.Y. Film Critics '75: Actor (Nicholson); Natl. Soc. Film Critics '75: Actor (Nicholson); Writers Guild '75: Adapt. Screenplay.
