Movie Description Milos Foreman's ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, based on the novel by Ken Kesey and the play by Dale Wasserman, presents a biting and ultimately tragic satire about mental institutions and the human spirit. A disturbing, witty, and electrifying drama, the film won the 1975 Academy Award for Best Picture. R.P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a misbehaved con who shirks authority, finds himself in an asylum after faking insanity to get out of work detail in prison. The vivacious troublemaker soon finds himself in a worse kind of prison--one presided over by the repressed, terrifyingly quiet Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), whose set of rules and regulations are meant to suppress patients' psychotic outbursts, and their spirits. It's not long before McMurphy is reaching out to his new inmates, trying desperately to bring life to an otherwise dead atmosphere. To Ratched, however, Nicholson's free spirit is as dangerous as a schizophrenic impulse. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST is brilliantly acted by an ensemble that includes Brad Dourif, Christopher Lloyd, Vincent Schiavelli, and Danny DeVito.
| Credits | | Producer: | Michael Douglas, Saul Zaentz | | Cast: | Brad Dourif, Dean R. Brooks, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Mwako Cumbuka, Nathan George, Vincent Schiavelli, William Duell |
Editorial Reviews "...[A] masterpiece..." Los Angeles Times - Kevin Thomas (09/23/1999)
"...Nicholson's performance is one of the high points in a long career of enviable rebels..." Chicago Bulletin - Roger Ebert (02/02/2003)
"...[Nicholson's] flamboyant performance is balanced perfectly by superb character turns from Brad Dourif, Christopher Lloyd and Danny DeVito..." Sight and Sound - Geoffrey Macnab (12/01/2002)
"Nicholson's manic and slightly corrosive charm motors this study of one roistering inmate's effect on an entire mental institution." Premiere - Premiere Staff (04/01/2004)
"Milos Forman's masterpiece." Total Film - Daniel Webb (03/01/2004)
Awards 1975Academy AwardsBest ActorJack Nicholson, 1975Academy AwardsBest ActressLouise Fletcher, 1975Academy AwardsBest DirectorMilos Forman, 1975Academy AwardsBest Film EditingSheldon Kahn, 1975Academy AwardsBest Picture, 1975Academy AwardsBest Screenplay Adapted from Other MaterialBo Goldman, 1975Academy AwardsBest Screenplay Adapted from Other MaterialLawrence Hauben
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