Milos Forman's adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel is a powerful film touching on individuality, institutional oppression, and the phenomenon of group-think. With a great cast of actors under Milos' experienced direction, the film is a classic sociological/psycological study of the human condition.

Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) thinks he has outsmarted the judicial system by pleading insanity as his defense to his criminal trial. Although he feels he can easily keep his cool by spending his time in the looney farm instead of prison, Randle soon realizes that he's over his head in the cold and rigid order of psychiatric institutions. His antagonist is the cold and bureaucratic Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher)who sees caring for the mentally ill as nothing more than dropping pills in patients' mouths and supervising frontal lobotomies; Randle's questioning of her authority and qualifications does nothing but ruffle her feathers and she's just waiting to put him in his place like all of her other little patients. Despite his rebellious spirit, this is a fight that Randall can't win as he is, after all, officially crazy and who would listen to the appeals of madman either inside or outside the walls of a sanitarium?

This is an outstanding film where Milos Forman touches upon the subtle nuances of the human character and the strange wisdom fools often have despite their mental quirks. It is not surprising that this film won multiple Academy Awards for 1976: it is simply a very touching film about the human spirit. I strongly recommend it.

Jack Nicholson portrays a man who was arrested numerous times for burglery and attempted rape. He wants to beat the rap and pretends he's insane. He thinks it's funny that he can get out of jail and stay in an Insane Hospital for 68 days.
Only, he checks in and it turns out that the nurses there think he's a criminally insane!
The charactor, Randall, that Nicholson brilliantly portrays is a loudmouth cussin' rebel. He interacts with the other men in the looney bin and he is able to reach them on an interpersonal level that Nurse Ratchet and all the other Psych Doctors cannot. He encourages them to participate in games of basketball and he likes to tease them all by calling them insulting names. One day, he jumps the fence while the guards are distracted. He steals the bus that takes the pscych patients on their outings and they borrow a fishing boat. This leads to a wild day of successful fishing, boating and having sex with woman named Candy. By the time the USS Luney Boat pulls into the boat yard, the psych team is there to greet them. BOY - it's trouble.
Randall gets in trouble and next thing you know, they're arguing in group session with nurse Ratchet, who is an overbearing, awful nurse who is as theraputic as a guillatione.
She is just terrible with the clients - not respectful - not concerned about thier manhood or manly interests at all.
As a matter of fact, I doubt she has a man in her life at all.
One night, Randall plans his escape. He unlocks the metal bars in front of the windows and these two girls bring bags and bags of booze for them to drink as well as all the other clients. All the clients are mal-adjusted but I wouldn't really classify them as being crazy. They're all having trouble coping with life and they regress and loose their tempers real bad over little silly things, but they are not crazy. The gang gets boozed up and one of the boys gets a woman for the first time in his life. ALl this crazy action is actually the most theraputic activities that the creeps in the Insane Hospital have ever seen, and they all respond well to it. Now comes the awful ending - they deal with Randall as if he were criminally insane. They lobe him up and he's done for.....his friend, the Chief then leaves the looney bin.
It's such a well done movie and it is hilarious throughout! Jack uses language that is colorful and a bit offensive, which leads to the overall enjoyment of this particular film
This film is 30 years old and it is a classic film depicting mental illness and what it is and what it may not be. It is fun to see the old '45's spinning on the turntable and there is alot of visual reference to the way the world was in 1975. Jack Nicholson is a youthful 35 year old young man, and that in itself is worth the time seeting this old film. Cuckoo's Nest is a classic and all person studying modern Psych owe it to themselves to be conversant about this important film.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is unforgettable. Filled with great acting, a gripping storyline, and a terrific message, this is one movie that you will remember. It is nothing like the average, worthless flicks currently in theaters. It's about hope, overcoming difficult situations, and conformity.

Randall P. MacMurphy recently gets sent to spend time in a strict mental institution after commiting assualt, among other crimes. To see if there really is a problem with his mind, the nurses observe him for a period of days. But as soon as Mac arrives, things change at the quiet hospital. He befriends the other patients, and teaches them many valuable lessons -- like how to fish, or how to really set off Nurse Ratched -- probably the most evil of characters in movie history.

The emotional conclusion is not one of dissapointment, no matter how sad it gets. You'll see why this deserves such recognition as a great work of art.

Great peformances and overall talent really make One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest worth watching over and over. This has to be Jack Nicholson's best. Amazing writing and character development progress better deeper into the plot. You really care for the characters unlike anything else. I wish more films like this were made.

And don't forget about the extras. There's lots to fulfill your needs with details about this masterpiece.

The performances by the actors and actresses in this movie are really good. The actors actually stayed inside an institute that was still in use at the time, so they spent time with actual patients. The story behind this film is interesting, and the meaning behind it isn't hard to see.

The second disc with special features ACTUALLY HAS special features! There are so many dvd sets that really don't offer anything remotely interesting with the movie. Well, this dvd is certainly an exception. The Making Of is very interesting with interviews with Milos Forman, Michael Douglas, and many of the actors and actresses involved with the movie. It was a bit disappointing that they never talk to Jack Nicholson, but regardless of that.. the Making Of is really an interesting documentary. Paying a little extra to get this extra disc is definitely worth it.

This lyric jag was a crude and sinister metaphor about Vietnam Hell and all the unimaginable consequences The book was published in 1962 and reveals the distorted state of things .in those years .
A convict -I mean an outsider- is committed to a mental institution for examination. And from that dark place he will find his bliss when he becomes a leader and stimulates his companions to develop an awakening spirit of self worth and rebelliousness against the rules which configure the Status Quo in the hospital . The image can not be more descriptive .
Curiously? an European film maker specifically Czech who really understood what the slender and the cruelness invasion meant for the free and untamed western spirit derived from his emotional memories in 1968 : Milos Foreman who played hard and without making too much concessions practiced and incisive surgeon to the social body conceived such as micro cosmos in itself through the pretext of using a mental institution.
This attitude will represent for him the beginning of his end when Louise Fletcher the implacable nurse guess his game . She will detect he is normal but ... she has the power to avoid he abandons this sinister jail . And now the struggling tension will raise and turn in a real catastrophe for every insane member.
Finally he will suffer a lobotomy and the circle of terror will close .
Masterly performances of Nicholson and Fletcher who won the respective Academy Awards as best actor and actress respectively . Foreman won the prize as best Director and so the film did it .
Since It happened one night you there was no other previous film who made this glorious feat.
Watch this superb masterpiece of the American Cinema but do not ever forget Shock Corridor - see my review - and consider the impressive points in common . Twelve years ago was the interval between Shock and One flew .