One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest DVD > Reviews > Not the birdie song...

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Jack Nicholson in perhaps his best performance
Disadvantages:	Sad there's not a happy ending

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Anyone who has recently been anywhere near an outlet of HMV will have noticed that videos seem to be going out of fashion. At least, they are selling them so fast its as though a VHS cloning experiment has gone into overtime.

Cheap vids often lead us, the consumer, to one universal conclusion; that no-one else on the planet wants them and so they're being off-loaded to us mugs who'll buy anything once its hit the bottom of the bargain bucket. This, I hope, is not the case for most rational human beings, and certainly not those of us who enjoy quality cinema.

Bargain buckets, however, are often more shiny than they seem. Or, in the case of this gem, blue.

'One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest' is that exception to the rule. It follows the life of a con, played masterfully by Jack Nicholson, who fakes insanity to avoid prison, instead deciding that life in a mental institution would be much easier. On arrival, he comes face to face with all manner of the disturbed, including a chronically smiling Danny DeVito and a manic debuting Christopher Lloyd.

The two characters that intrigue the most however are a deaf-dumb giant Red Indian (who plays most of the film looming over everyone in complete, ominous silence) and the matron, the warder, the scariest woman in a nurses uniform since Kathy Bates picked up a sledgehammer in 'Misery'. All she does is sit there, and stare, and that's enough to have you sit there and feel truly sorry for those poor souls under her dominatrix-bitch-silent-treatment regime.

The film plays like some neurotic nightmare, a melting pot of the real, the wrong and the rest of whatevers left. The performances from all concerned are breathtaking, and you feel as if the whitewashed walls are confining more than just a bunch of nuts, but more a group of misunderstood individuals with their own stories to tell.

And its conclusion doesn't let on until its over; its unpredictability and twists will have you cheering them on from your armchair, then crying as it all falls down. And then, well, just take my advice and keep your eyes on that Indian fella.

For those of you who rarely read classic reviews or watch the films they discuss, I hope this one will have inspired you to give this one a look. It is a definition of the word 'classic' and anyone who thinks that 'Final Destination' is one of these rare few should watch this and then apologise to themselves for such a crime.

Oh, and the blue boxes? Its the new series by Warner celebrating some of the true 'Classics' of cinema. And this one is at the top of the pile. Brilliant.