One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman, based on the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, in which upon admittance to a mental institution, McMurphy, a brash rebel rallies the patients to take on the oppressive head nurse. It stars Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, and Will Sampson.The film was the second to win all five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Actor in Lead Role, Actress in Lead Role, Director, and Screenplay). The mystery of what McMurphy is thinking is the mystery of the movie. Nicholson’s performance is one of the high points in a long career of enviable rebels. Jack is a beloved American presence, a superb actor who even more crucially is a superb male sprite. The joke lurking beneath the surface of most of his performances is that he gets away with things because he knows how to, wants to, and has the nerve to.
