One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

R

Released Nov 19, 1975

2 hr. 13 min.

Drama

List

93%

120 Reviews

Tomatometer

96%

250,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

When Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) gets transferred for evaluation from a prison farm to a mental institution, he assumes it will be a less restrictive environment. But the martinet Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) runs the psychiatric ward with an iron fist, keeping her patients cowed through abuse, medication and sessions of electroconvulsive therapy. The battle of wills between the rebellious McMurphy and the inflexible Ratched soon affects all the ward's patients.

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Critics Consensus

Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher are worthy adversaries in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, with Miloš Forman's more grounded and morally ambiguous approach to Ken Kesey's surrealistic novel yielding a film of outsized power.

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Howard H

Excitable, enjoyable film. Characters are loveable throughout.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/15/24

Full Review

Alex P

Such an amazing feel good film a worthy all timer.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/02/24

Full Review

Bryan B

They don't make em like this anymore. Better than most movies today but not what I would consider a must watch classic.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/18/24

Full Review

Alec C

Jack Nicholson's most memorable film is one the you can't afford to miss! Randal McMurphy is sent to a mental hospital with hopes for an easier sentence, but soon runs afoul with the domineering Nurse Ratched, who'll do anything to keep the "orderlies" under her control. A quirky film that manages to leave an impression on anyone, but still manages to be grounded in harsh reality about the mental health system!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/13/24

Full Review

Jeff M

I suppose my lot in life will now be to go down in history as the only person on the face of the earth not to love this Best Picture winner of 1975. In fact, it's one of only three films in Academy Awards history to win all five top awards. I'm certainly alone on the island here, finding this film to be repetitive, uninvolving and often unrealistic. Nicholson is Nicholson, and I didn't find much here beyond his normal Nicholson performance; Fletcher gives a one-note performance in a one-note role, although I was usually siding with Nurse Ratched over McMurphy. I kinda don't know what else to say. It always shocks me when I see a film this universally beloved that leaves me cold. For every powerful scene that works, such as the lobotomy scene and a nice moment between Nicholson and Sampson at the end, there are three or four that fail, including a ridiculous temporary escape from the asylum on a fishing boat. This will definitely be on my list of all-time overrated movies.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/24

Full Review

Olson K

Rewatched in January 2024

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/07/24

Full Review

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Milos Forman

Director

Jack Nicholson

Randle Patrick McMurphy

Louise Fletcher

Nurse Mildred Ratched

Brad Dourif

Billy Bibbit

William Redfield

Harding

Michael Berryman

Ellis, tall bald patient

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Alexander Walker

London Evening Standard

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a film I admire as much as I mistrust. And I mistrust it very much indeed.

Mar 8, 2022

Full Review

Derek Malcolm

Guardian

When it matters the strength is there, together with the feeling that our judgment of who is mad and who is sane, is at best faulty and uncertain and at worst downright disastrous.

Mar 8, 2022

Full Review

John Cashman

Newsday

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest ultimately fails as black humor because it is too real for anyone who wants to think about it not to realize what is causing the laughter. Sick persons are not funny. And McMurphy may be the sickest of them all.

Mar 7, 2022

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

A rare screen adaptation of a beloved novel that maintains the emotional and dramatic power of the original while establishing its own distinctive approach to the story...

Aug 19, 2023

Full Review

Mark Johnson

Awards Daily

Adapted from Ken Kesey’s novel of the same name, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is an electrifying observation of the need for reform in our mental institutions.

Jun 8, 2023

Full Review

Steve Warren

The Barb (Atlanta)

[Jack Nicholson's] certainly never been better than in this superb black comedy about life in an asylum.

May 9, 2023

Full Review

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Synopsis

When Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) gets transferred for evaluation from a prison farm to a mental institution, he assumes it will be a less restrictive environment. But the martinet Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) runs the psychiatric ward with an iron fist, keeping her patients cowed through abuse, medication and sessions of electroconvulsive therapy. The battle of wills between the rebellious McMurphy and the inflexible Ratched soon affects all the ward's patients.

Director: Milos Forman
Screenwriter: Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman
Distributor: Pioneer Entertainment, Warner Home Vídeo, Republic Pictures, United Artists
Production Co: Fantasy Films
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 19, 1975, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Flat (1.85:1)

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