Movie Stats:
Released 1975 (USA)
American, in English
Director – Milos Forman
Stars – Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Will Sampson (plus
a lot of people I never knew were in this film, including Danny DeVito,
Christopher Lloyd, Brad Dourif, Vincent Schiavelli, and others; look them up on
IMDB to see who they played)
Plot Summary:
When chronic troublemaker R.P. McMurphy (Nicholson) lands in
prison yet again, he fakes insanity to get what he thinks is going to be an
easy stint in a mental institution. Once he’s been committed, he butts heads
with ice-queen Nurse Ratched (Fletcher) and befriends deaf-mute Native American
Chief Bromden (Sampson).
Warnings:
Blue language (lots of f-bombs); sexual innuendo/situations;
the kind of violence you’d expect in a mental institution; very brief male
nudity (butt only).
Bad Stuff:
Everybody always talks about how evil Nurse Ratched is, but
she didn’t seem especially evil to me until the end of the film. I spent the
whole movie expecting her to be worse than she was, which left me a little
disappointed. I suppose maybe that’s the fault of the people who talk about
this film, rather than a fault of the film itself. Ultimately, I don’t have a lot of
complaints, though. The ending was pretty depressing but I knew that going in.
Good Stuff:
The acting was really good. Nicholson was kind of meh; he
played the same character he always seems to play. But everyone else was great.
I especially enjoyed DeVito (as Martini) and Dourif (as Billy Bibbit). If I
hadn’t looked at the cast list beforehand, I might not have recognized either
of them.
I enjoyed the sweetness of Nicholson’s character. He was a
screw-up, but he was a good-hearted screw-up. He wasn’t malicious. He cared
about the other men on his ward & wanted to help them. I liked the
friendship & trust that he built with Chief. In a movie with so much
underlying sadness, it left me feeling like perhaps things weren’t so sad after
all.
The Verdict:
I expected to find this movie depressing but ultimately it
didn’t get me down like I thought it would. I wouldn’t say that it’s enjoyable
or gripping, but it’s certainly interesting. I see why many people who love
film count it amongst their favorites. It’s not one of my favorites, but it’s a
good flick nonetheless.
I give the movie 4 stars.
2 comments:
Another movie I watched very late at night. I too, remember being surprised at all the recognizable actors in this film. I was not so much a fan of this, mostly because Jack Nicholson is annoying in every film he is in, including this one. I also am fairly uncomfortable with Nurse Ratched--for some reason her portrayal raises my feminist hackles.
We read this book for book group a year or so ago and I really liked it, even though it was quite uncomfortable. Chief is the narrator of the book and I love him much more than McMurphy.
Another friend was telling me that the book was really good! I would add it to my reading list but my list is already too long.
I was distracted the whole film by the realization that Christian Slater totally copied Nicholson's speaking style in the 80s/90s. I'd heard people say that before, but I never truly noticed it until now.
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