Movie Review.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest**

In this revolutionary and innovative, surprise movie, the main plot follows R. P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) who has feigned insanity to wheedle his way out of prison and into a psycho ward where he thinks life will be easier. His conception of this new environment reveals itself as correct in the first few days of his stay there. He initiates himself with general fooling around and mischief and succeeds in arousing his fellow inmates to play along, even though Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) curtails many of their activities. Ultimately, McMurphy escapes with the help of a huge deaf and dumb Indian friend (Will Sampson) and the "escapist " manages to garner the whole bunch of psychos into a bus to start on a wild escapade. After an envigorating ride on a fishing boat with a few comely girls, the stray group falls back into custody. McMurphy begins to realize the harshness of his confinement when he receives shock treatment for his misbehavior. After enduring this excruciating agony, on the outside, McMurphy's mien remains unchanged, but down deep he is becoming insane. As a result of another McMurphy engineered scandal, one of the patients, Billy (Brad Duriff), begins to loose his speech impetiment, but Nurse Ratched scolded Billy for his part in the affair, hence he digressed back to stuttering. Outraged by Nurse Ratched's interference, McMurphy strangles her and nearly kills the nurse. Accordingly, he is submitted to a lobotomy, and this time, McMurphy cannot recover from this torture and he becomes a vegetable. His Indian friend, who had become fond of him, kills him to preserve McMurphy's alacrity at any cost.

Excellent acting and important social issues contributed to my enjoyment of the movie, though it indeed lacked and had some annoying qualities to it. The main characters in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest are very well suited to their roles and are very consistent in their actions. McMurphy leads the crew of patients with great skillfulness as he quickly actuates their emotion, where before they lived dull and listless lives that would be expected of a bunch of mental cases. Nurse Ratched portrays her part well as a cool and calm dictator ruling over the patients. To break the monotony that Nurse Ratched had created, McMurphy operates efficiently by making the patients stand up for their rights. After McMurphy coaxes them, the inmates very effectively assert themselves to gain the right to watch the World Series, which strictly went against the rules. Acting as the hinderer, Nurse Ratched quells their anxieties as she usually does. Another well devised character is the Indian, Chief Bromden, who has everybody fooled about his fake deafness and dumbness. When the chief relates his secret to McMurphy, he receives it with the same kind of laughter and easy-goingness in which he does most everything.

Some strong social issues came out of the movie, against mental institutions. One question that could be asked throughout the movie is: Why is a man such as McMurphy, who is evidently sane, allowed into a mental hospital? McMurphy makes a mockery of the hospital by escaping with a bus load of inmates. How can an inmate get away with so much? Even an unsupervised all night party is staged by McMurphy and his playmates. These comic developments lose their comedy quickly, because of the hospital's neglection, McMurphy receives utter torture, the shock treatment. I do not see how this treatment can be regarded as anything but illegal. The ultimate crime that the mental hospital commits is McMurphy's subjection to a lobotomy. Not only does it turn a perfectly sane man into a vegetable, but it is totally inhumane. In additiion to these attrocities, the hospital staff offers no therapy to the patients that does them any good.

The movie lacks many traits that a truly good movie should have and it possesses a few annoying qualities. To accompany the movie's other strong points, action and suspense should have been used. The closest thing to a action scene in the movie occurs, when the mental patients take a ride on the fishing boat, but the most exciting happening on the boat was when he caught a fish. A suicide by one of the patients provides the audience with a little melodrama, but the viewers do not even get to witness any part of his suicide. Secondly, the movie could have used the confrontation between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched as a sexual battle, as was the case in the book version which came out in 1962. Because the movie is "R" rated, this relationship would have succeeded but throughout the movie the existence of a scene, which would justify this rating, is absent. In addition, the playing of sweet and unsavory background music matches with the unlively plot. Moreover, during several occasions in the movie, a bothersome background chatter, which sounds like a newscaster, distracts the listener.

This movie has many good features and, of course, a few bad ones. Any person who sees this movie cannot help but like it. The acting of Jack Nicholson will overwhelm and impress any member of the family, while the other actors, will add to the enjoyment. On the other hand, if the moviegoer is looking for a movie with violent chase scenes, cops killing badmen, or an ingenious plot to take over the world, he definitely will not find it in this movie and should look elsewhere for his entertainment. Therefore, anyone who wants a warm, well-made account of people should see this movie.***

**Director - Milos Forman; Screenplay - Laurence Hauben & Bo Goldman; Producer - Paul Zeron; released in 1975.

Bibliography
1. Newsweek: 12-10-75, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
2. Nation: 12-24-75, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

***written in high school around 1976, not dated.