One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Two-Disc Special Edition)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Two-Disc Special Edition)
by Milos Forman

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DVD details

Actor: Brad Dourif, Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Sydney Lassick, William Redfield
Director: Milos Forman
Brand: Warner Brothers
Producer: Martin Fink
Producer: Michael Douglas
Producer: Saul Zaentz
Writer: Bo Goldman
Writer: Dale Wasserman
Writer: Ken Kesey
Writer: Lawrence Hauben
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 133 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-09-24
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Warner Home Video

DVD Reviews of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Two-Disc Special Edition)

DVD Review: An imperfect film, and a highly disappointing adaption
Summary: 2 Stars

Unfortunately for me, and probably for this review, I read the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest before watching the film.

On one hand, most of the secondary actors are well-chosen. As another reviewer points out, Brad Dourif makes an excellent Billy Bibbit, as Sydney Lassick makes a good Cheswick and Will Sampson makes a perfect Chief Bromden.

But, on the other hand, almost every reviewer has argued that Forman made a good choice in choosing Nicholson and Fletcher. If I approached this film knowing nothing about the insane asylum, I might agree: Nicholson and Fletcher are generally superb. But, unfortunately, by the time I stuck the tape in my VHS player, Ken Kesey, the author of the novel, had described the characters for me. The novel's McMurphy is a strong, red-headed Irishman; Nicholson, although he identifies himself as Irish, is neither red-headed nor particular buff.

This is a minor complaint. Forman, however, takes liberties with McMurphy's dialogue, making it bear little resemblance to that in the novel. To some extent, of course, this is necessary when screening a novel. But, although bad language does not offend me, Nicholson uses the F-word, and even stronger language, at points in the film when McMurphy censors himself. Memorably, when in the novel Dr. Spivey asks McMurphy why he has been sent to Ratched's ward, he replies, "It's probably because I drink and fu--sorry, ladies" [paraphrase]. In the film, he goes right ahead and drops the F-bomb. This gives us a picture of McMurphy's character which is very different from what Kesey shows us. In the film, he seems more brazen and irrational. This detracts from Kesey's description of him as an essentially good and logical (though often greedy and self-interested) person.

Fletcher's acting as Big Nurse Ratched is even more incongruous. In the novel, she is described as an ugly hag with enormous breasts and androgynous clothing. The men joke about how unattractive she is, and McMurphy says that he would never be able to "get it up" for her. Fletcher, however, is a fairly attractive actor, and absurdly, Formen chooses to accentuate her beauty by putting her in a tight dress. My mom, who knew nothing about the plot, thought that the tense conversations between Ratched and McMurphy at the beginning of the film were supposed to be a prequel to a later love affair. From the very beginning of the novel, however, it is clear that this is impossible.

I must admit that I do not know how Formen ends the film, since my VHS player ate the tape half-way through the movie.

There are incongruities in the plot, however, even from the beginning. Significantly, McMurphy doesn't field the vote for the World Series Baseball Game until about half-way through the novel. This comes much earlier in Formen's film, and it does not seem only like a poor adaption, but also like a bad directorial decision to show McMurphy and the men celebrating an imaginary play like old pals about five minutes we have watched them meet.

Furthermore, after Nicholson hops the fence and steals a bus (which never happens in the book), they meet the prostitute, Candy. This happens about 45 minutes into the film. In the book, they meet her about 3/4 of the way to the end---she drives to the hospital (in a car) to take the men on a fishing trip. This change is huge.

Even from a purely filmatic perspective, McMurphy's theft of the bus seems out of context, considering the power Ratched is supposed to wield over her patients. McMurphy is empowered, and the hospital is simply his playground. One almost feels sorry for the poor, attractive Ms. Ratched, who attempts to keep her patients from doing such ridiculous, and obviously reprehensible things as escaping and stealing vehicles. In truly great films, such as Apocalypse Now, the interaction between the characters and their environment is far more realistic. A "great American classic" has none of these jarring inconsistencies.

The most frustrating of Formen's choices is his decision to tell the story from a third-person perspective of McMurphy. Of course, this allows for brash humor and nurse-bashing. But it omits the story's most powerful aspect, which is its narration through the eyes of Chief Bromden. In the novel, the Chief is a complex character, who often recalls his home on the Columbia River with his family, and the government's destruction of his hometown and his proud father. His intelligent commentary gives the novel a "human" dimension which places it among the exalted classics. We see how the Chief has fallen from a proud, self-sufficient man to a cowardly lunatic. Choosing to include at least some of his words, and not to omit or change the original dialogue completely, might have made this a more compelling and memorable film. It is not moving.

These may seem like minor complaints, considering that the film is an adaption, and adaptions are hard. But I indignantly feel that this should be a more carefully-crafted film, considering that it has won five Academy Awards and high praise.

In sum,

This is a film by Formen, not Kesey. It has more humor than pathos. Some of the characters are pretty and funny, not intriguing or accurate. Same with the scenes. Keep that in mind when you watch it.

NOTE: I meant to give this film three stars, but Amazon won't let me change my rating now that I have posted it. Sad.

DVD Review: Still Strong
Summary: 5 Stars

I sometimes hesitate to review an old movie I really loved the first time I saw it the same way I am reluctant to read a book I remember fondly from my youth. Sometimes they just don't hold up. I took the plunge with "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Nicholson as McMurphy and the strong supporting cast of loonies (including Nurse Ratchet) holds up very well. I highly recommend this one. Haven't had a chance to look at the bonus disk, but I am looking forward to it.

DVD Review: THANKS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL FULFILLMENT
Summary: 4 Stars

It arrived in good condition and within the time parameters you promised.

Thanks

DVD Review: still a great movie
Summary: 5 Stars

after all these years this is still a very good movie. It has been many years since I saw this movie but my girlfriend had never seen this movie and she really enjoyed it. She is a nurse and couldn't understand why I called her nurse ratchet sometimes. Now she understands.

DVD Review: disappointed
Summary: 1 Stars

I was most disappointed because I wanted a DVD and it was featured as a DVD and when it came, it was a VHS tape. Don't think I would trust this person again for anything.

Description of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Two-Disc Special Edition)

A nice rest in a state mental hospital beats a stretch in the pen, right? Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a free-spirited con with lightning in his veins and glib on his tongue, fakes insanity and moves in with what he calls the "nuts." Immediately, his contagious sense of disorder runs up against numbing routine. No way should guys pickled on sedatives shuffle around in bathrobes when the World Series is on. This means war! On one side is McMurphy. On the other is soft-spoken Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), among the most coldly monstrous villains in film history. At stake is the fate of every patient on the ward. Based on Ken Kesey's acclaimed bestseller, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest swept all five major 1975 Academy Awards: Best Picture (produced by Saul Zaentz and Michael Douglas), Actor (Nicholson), Actress (Fletcher), Director (Milos Forman) and Adapted Screenplay (Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman). Raucous, searing and with a superb cast that includes Brad Dourif, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd in his film debut, this one soars.

One of the key movies of the 1970s, when exciting, groundbreaking, personal films were still being made in Hollywood, Milos Forman's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest emphasized the humanistic story at the heart of Ken Kesey's more hallucinogenic novel. Jack Nicholson was born to play the part of Randle Patrick McMurphy, the rebellious inmate of a psychiatric hospital who fights back against the authorities' cold attitudes of institutional superiority, as personified by Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). It's the classic antiestablishment tale of one man asserting his individuality in the face of a repressive, conformist system--and it works on every level. Forman populates his film with memorably eccentric faces, and gets such freshly detailed and spontaneous work from his ensemble that the picture sometimes feels like a documentary. Unlike a lot of films pitched at the "youth culture" of the 1970s, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest really hasn't dated a bit, because the qualities of human nature that Forman captures--playfulness, courage, inspiration, pride, stubbornness--are universal and timeless. The film swept the Academy Awards for 1976, winning in all the major categories (picture, director, actor, actress, screenplay) for the first time since Frank Capra's It Happened One Night in 1931. --Jim Emerson

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