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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Drama · 1975

A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients—and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs the ward.

Movie details

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

“In this clean, orderly, disciplined world, who needs guys like McMurphy? Everybody.”

1975 Drama 2h 15m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

8.4 / 10

Community rating

A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients—and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs the ward.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Birdy

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Kiss of the Spider Woman

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The United States of Leland

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Crime · 2003

A withdrawn young man, Leland Fitzgerald is imprisoned for the murder of a mentally disabled boy, who also happened to be the brother of his girlfriend, Becky. As the community struggles to deal with the killing, Pearl Madison, a teacher at the prison, decides to write about Leland's case. Meanwhile, others affected by the murder, including Becky and her sister, Julie, must contend with their own problems.

The Green Mile

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Drama · 1999

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Miloš Forman

Written by

Lawrence Hauben · Bo Goldman

Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson

Randle Patrick McMurphy

Brad Dourif

Brad Dourif

Billy Bibbit

Louise Fletcher

Louise Fletcher

Nurse Mildred Ratched

Danny DeVito

Danny DeVito

Martini

William Redfield

William Redfield

Dale Harding

Scatman Crothers

Scatman Crothers

Orderly Turkle

Christopher Lloyd

Christopher Lloyd

Max Taber

Court is in session

Put One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.