One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Milos Forman, 1975)

I hate One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Hate it. Please tell me I’m not the only person who thinks Jack Nicholson (playing himself as usual) is way more the villain than Nurse Ratched and the latter isn’t all that evil (at least until way towards the end). And is it strawmanning to wonder why this movie (and its era) are held up as paragons of realism after the “lies” of classical Hollywood? I watched In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray, 1950) the same night and it felt like Direct damn Cinema in comparison. And does this movie celebrate American anti-intellectualism as much, if not more than, American anti-authoritarianism? And is it not as corny as Dead Poets Society? And is not Jack Nicholson a bad actor in the same way that Marlon Brando was a bad actor, i. e., always playing themselves like some rock star (Bob Dylan?)? ARGH!

Grade: C