If he’s crazy, what does that make you?|Nov. 18, 1975|United States|133 Min.|TV-MA
Genre: Drama
Description: The story begins in September 1963, when Randle Patrick McMurphy is serving a prison sentence on an Oregon work farm for multiple assaults and the statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl. He manages to get transferred to a mental institution to avoid hard labor. Upon arrival, he discovers that the ward is dominated by head nurse Mildred Ratched, a cold and passive-aggressive authoritarian who uses her power to control and intimidate the patients.
The other patients include Billy Bibbit, an anxious and stuttering man-child; Charlie Cheswick, who is prone to childish outbursts; Martini, who is delusional and innocent; Dale Harding, a repressed homosexual; Max Taber, who is belligerent and profane; Jim Sefelt and Bruce Fredrickson, both epileptics, with the former giving his medication to the latter; the quiet but volatile Scanlon; and “Chief” Bromden, a tall Native American who pretends to be deaf and mute, among others with chronic conditions.
Ratched views McMurphy’s rebellious and lively nature as a threat to her authority. She tightens her control by confiscating and rationing the patients’ cigarettes, and suspends their card-playing privileges. McMurphy engages in a battle of wills with Ratched, ultimately stealing a school bus to escape with several patients for a day of fishing and swimming along the Pacific Coast. During this outing, he encourages his fellow patients to discover their own strengths and build self-confidence.
After learning from an orderly that his prison sentence doesn’t apply if he’s deemed criminally insane, McMurphy plans an escape. He persuades Chief Bromden to throw a hydrotherapy console through a window. It’s revealed that McMurphy, Chief, and Taber are the only non-chronic patients involuntarily committed to the institution. The others, though free to leave, are too fearful to do so. When Cheswick demands his cigarettes in a fit of rage, McMurphy and Taber clash with the orderlies, leading Chief to intervene.
Cast director: Miloš Forman
Cast actor: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Danny DeVito, William Redfield, Scatman Crothers, Brad Dourif, Christopher Lloyd, Will Sampson, Dean R. Brooks, Michael Berryman
Original name: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest