One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One of my favorite lines from the movie.
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The random number generator gave me number 10 this week, and that corresponds to the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." It just so happens that my mom had advised me to see this movie about two weeks ago, and seeing that I highly regard my mom's taste, I was excited to see if I felt as highly about this movie as she did.


The basic premise of the movie is that we follow Jack Nicholson's character who everyone calls Mac, a new patient at a mental health facility who we learn is not in the institution because he is crazy, but because he would rather spend his days in a mental hospital rather than a prison. He has a long history of fighting, and that doesn't leave him when he comes to the mental facility. We basically follow his escapades throughout his stay at the hospital, which are pretty outrageous. The star of the movie, to me, is Chief. Chief is a Native American who must be at least 6 and a half feet tall. He doesn't talk to anyone, but follows Mac's instructions in how to play basketball. As the movie continues, we witness possibly one of the deepest and most complex movie relationships to ever exist.


The strange part about this movie is that it's listed as a drama, but it's not quite that. There are moments when I laughed out loud. But the movie is far too dark to be considered a comedy. It's somewhere in the middle, but definitely not the definition we give to sad romantic comedies, a dramedy. It is something completely different, and I have never seen a film that confused me emotionally, but that I still thoroughly enjoyed. The only one that compares is "Inception," and that's for entirely different reasons.


"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" depicts the mental health industry in a stark way, but isn't trying to critique it at all. There are no true heroes, there isn't much of a traditional plot line, the differences between right and wrong are as gray as can be, and by the ending you won't know who's side you are on. But that doesn't mean it isn't a fantastic ride.


Worth your time.