One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" based on the book by Ken Kesey is about a convict, McMurphy (Nicholson) who pleads insanity to avoid jail.  Once inside, he rallies the wards together to take on the oppressive Nurse Ratched. 

I’ve heard that this book, much like The Great Gatsby or The Catcher in the Rye, is not considered required reading in more and more High Schools which is truly a shame because I love all of those books. As a fan of Jack Nicholson even at an early age (I mean c’mon, he was The Joker many years before Ledger), I had seen the film prior to reading the book and may have been biased towards liking it. I understand that author Ken Kesey did not enjoy how this adaptation was handled because the shift of narrator from Chief to McMurphy diminishes Chief’s schizophrenic perceptions and significance in the story to make it into a starring vehicle for Nicholson, which is admittedly true. After all, Nicholson had cut his teeth on similarly-themed anti-establishment films like Easy Rider, The Last Detail and Five Easy Pieces and this film was perfect for him, leading to his first Oscar win. All that being said, this is still a fantastic film that keeps much of the book’s impact intact and perhaps even improves upon it in certain ways. This film is also notable for early appearances by Danny Devito, Christopher Lloyd, Vincent Schiavelli and the incredible introduction of character actor Brad Dourif, who would become the voice of Chucky and Wormtongue from the Lord of the Rings films. And how could we forget Louise Fletcher’s Oscar-winning turn as Nurse Ratched, a character who will have you yelling at the TV more than McMurphy over the baseball game. A perfect blend of humor, tragedy and social commentary, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest will stay with you forever.

No character in the history of the world will make you want to punch people square in the face quite like Nurse Ratched. (The only one notably close is Professor Umbridge from the "Harry Potter"series….)  Louise Fletcher's performance is outstanding.  The book was one I really enjoyed reading in High School.  For those of you who know me, you know I could be quite a pill if forced to read something I wasn't totally interested in.  I would read it… but my opinions would not be hushed.  With "Cuckoo's Nest," I could hardly put the book down.  Adding to Tim's earlier comment with the shift in narratives between Chief and McMurphy, if Chief had been the narrator of the film with all of his personalities, I think it would've taken away from the main plots of the film.  Plus, the moment of the film when you realize the story is about the Chief makes his story much more powerful.  Great movie!  Great acting! 

Louise Fletcher was so upset with the fact that the other actors could laugh and be happy while she had to be so cold and heartless that near the end of production she removed her dress and stood in only her panties to prove to the actors she was not "a cold-hearted monster".

McMurphy: [about shock treatments] They was giving me ten thousand watts a day, you know, and I'm hot to trot! The next woman takes me on's gonna light up like a pinball machine and pay off in silver dollars!