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I really had no idea what to rate this movie: it’s dramatic but not too dramatic, it’s funny but not too funny. I felt inspired, but I had many complaints about it. First off, I felt like it didn’t have a central plot. IMDb.com says: “A man sent to a mental hospital finds the head nurse a lot more dangerous than the other patients.” I agree, but we really have no connection between the two. Besides a few arguments, we have nothing to back that up. If it was concentrated more on that than on unnecessary sidetrips, such as when Randle took everyone on a field trip fishing. I see that that shows how he’s connecting and how crazy he’s becoming, but if it had been removed so more of the initial plot could come underway, it would have helped.
Even without music for a lot of the time, I felt like I was being touched by this movie, mainly at the end. However, it doesn’t have a central message or theme. It was heart wrenching at times, even over the littlest things, but for a lot of the time it was just “a movie”. I don’t want you to think the wrong thing, I enjoyed and liked this movie.
Nicholson, who is McMurphy, was excellent yet again. Fletcher was good, but would have been better if she was in more scenes, considering she’s the second largest star of the film. She, as Ratched, wanted routine and routine only. I didn’t really think she was “dangerous”, but if it had been a longer movie, it could have worked. I thought that all of the mental patients were great, especially Lloyd (it was his debut, as was DeVito’s).
I did notice a few things that I didn’t think would happen in real life. First, I wouldn’t think that they would allow smoking in a hospital. Also, I noticed that throughout the entire movie, McMurphy didn’t have the hospital gowns that everyone else had. Other than that, I would have to say that this movie is very good, but many flaws.
Rated R for language, violence, and mental themes.
Review Date: March 30, 2003