Review – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Wow, does this one ever sport a lot of actors who will become more prominent later. And it’s funny how many of them got typecast into playing crazy people (no doubt at least in part as a result of doing this movie). Jack Nicholson methodically chews through the scenery as a sane (if somewhat rebellious) man wrongly committed to an insane asylum. His attempts to better the lives of his fellow patients are mid-70s edgy but taste of treacle at the same time. Aside from the “hey, isn’t that …” nature of the casting, this production shines only when supplying an honest view of the treatment of the mentally ill. And even on that front you get more from five minutes’ worth of Titticut Follies than you do from this whole production. Overall I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t regard it as the breathtaking work of staggering genius the Academy apparently thought it was. Mildly amusing