Review of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) by Matthew A — 17 Mar 2013

''But I tried, didn't I? Goddamnit, at least I did that.''.

An enduring classic featuring one of Jack Nicholson's greatest performances as the rebellious Randle Patrick McMurphy, who is closely matched by a fierce opposing screen presence from Louise Fletcher as the tyrannical Nurse Rachet. While those 2 go at it, the film is pretty engaging, but essentially that's all of what the movie achieves best: the rebel vs authority theme. It doesn't give the magnificently layered novel much depth as I would have liked, but I won't complain about that... it is what it is. Just to break down the movie: the rest of the ensemble were perfection; each actor does great justice to his respective character (Danny DeVito as Martini and Sidney Lassick as Charlie Cheswick were my favourite supporting performances, with the latter unfortunately missing out on at least an Oscar nomination); the score is brilliant, almost haunting; the direction by Milos Forman, while far from faultless (wow that one scene where McMurphy steals the bus to go fishing especially irritated me, dunno how that one slid passed me the first time I saw it), was mostly good. I adored this movie the first time I saw it, maybe because of Nicholson's swagger in the role and the fact that I saw it with my mother (seeing movies with her has always been one of the most wonderful experiences in my life), but after reading the novel, I was kinda let down by it with this second viewing. I don't think I'd want to see it again actually. Good movie, but not really the masterpiece I once thought it was.