If you have been tracking my progress getting through the American Film Institute’s 100 greatest American films of all time, you know I have been stuck on number 69, Tootsie, for some time. Well, Tootsie is going to continue waiting. Because Netflix has an ever-fluctuating library of stream-able titles, I was spurred to action after receiving notice another AFI title was leaving the service at the end of February. So, the love/hate, ‘you own nothing’ streaming era we currently live in is the reason I found myself jumping from 69 to 33 to watch One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Cuckoo was a new watch for me. For as long as it has been considered an iconic film with legendary performances (released in 1975), I had never felt compelled to watch it, and I cannot give a good reason as to why, other than there always seemed to be something that promised to be more interesting. The film certainly earned its accolades, however, taking Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Jack Nicholson), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Louise Fletcher), Best Director (Milos Forman), and Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted from Other Material. There were several additional nominations in categories Cuckoo did not win. The most noteworthy loss, in my opinion, was in the category of Best Actor in a Supporting Role, for which Brad Dourif was nominated in his introductory role. His performance was gripping and immersive, and it pulled back the curtain for what would become a stellar career playing memorable supporting characters in genre-spanning work. Cuckoo obviously has a strongly established CV, so now, let’s take a deeper look at the film and the characters that made it legendary.

IMDB’s plot teaser for Cuckoo states: In the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse. I found this description interesting and not wholly accurate upon viewing. I will take IMDB’s word that Nicholson’s character, R.P. McMurphy, is a Korean War veteran. I do not recall that coming up in the film nor the character talking about it directly. I also hesitate to label these psychiatric ward patients “scared”. As we find out in the film, most of the patients there are self-committed and can leave whenever they choose. There are only a handful of patients committed for legal purposes, McMurphy being one. This all leads to one of the great pop culture fallacies: the inherently evil nature of Nurse Ratched.

While I just watched Cuckoo for the first time, the reputation of Nurse Ratched has long been present in my general awareness through pop culture references. I have lived decades on Earth believing Nurse Ratched was evil incarnate and a brutal overseer of vulnerable patients. IMDB’s description of Ratched as a “tyrannical nurse” is simply, flat out, wrong. Psychiatric hospitals, to begin with, are inherently uncomfortable, and many mental treatments throughout history have bordered on being criminal. Hospital personnel, therefore, have also been cast as villains and monsters for their treatment of patients in the name of “trying to help them”. I believe this is where the common perception of Nurse Ratched originates from. She is a strong, commanding personality that remains even-keeled at all times. The film takes several opportunities to show Ratched’s pleasant interactions with other hospital staff and her expressing concern for patients’ well-being. The doctor in charge of the ward also considers Ratched one of the hospital’s finest employees. Additionally, there are several scenes presenting Ratched’s adherence to rules and the purpose for them. Being level-headed and ensuring hospital rules are followed should not automatically mark her as being “tyrannical”. I kept expecting there to be a pivot at some point in the film where Ratched would make her full villain turn and become the evil character I expected. Honestly, I never feel it came. The closest Ratched came to villain status, and this may be where the nuance between good and bad was supposed to be shattered, is a point near the film’s conclusion where she manipulates one of the patients into feeling guilty about his actions because of Ratched’s relationship to the patient’s mother. This manipulation spurs a couple of the characters to unfortunate outcomes. Knowing how things end, you have to look at Ratched’s previous interactions in Cuckoo with a different lens. Was she manipulative throughout or simply doing her best to keep mentally ill patients in line and adhering to their treatment? There can be arguments in either direction, but I do not believe Nurse Ratched is even that profound of a character (which has nothing to do with Louise Fletcher’s perfect portrayal of the character), at least not as pop culture references would make you think.

R.P. McMurphy, on the other hand, deserves consideration as the actual villain in Cuckoo. Yes, his personality and boisterous engagement elicited smiles from the other patients and exposed them to new experiences, but those actions ultimately led to the unraveling of the daily lives for everyone in that psychiatric ward. There was question whether McMurphy had coerced his way into the ward to escape serving a sentence of hard labor for statutory rape. That, coupled with his obvious disregard for rules and the well-being of others, paints a picture of an individual who brings about nothing but harm to those around him, getting away with it because he makes others smile and feel good about themselves. This perfectly camouflages his darker intents. Any perceived positives McMurphy brought into the lives of the other patients, however, was in the name of manipulation, intentional or not. McMurphy manipulated his way into the hospital, he manipulated others to try help him escape, and he manipulated friends on the outside to ease his confinement, which was the consequence of McMurphy’s own actions. While watching the film, you are rooting for McMurphy. You want him to be able to watch the World Series and end up feeling Ratched’s strict demeanor is dictatorial. You appreciate the seemingly positive ways he is making the other patients feel. Until the end, however, everything is about McMurphy and getting what he wants. The pursuit of freedom for action and being is something that appears to be only on McMurphy’s mind, and the final cost does not yield the reward he envisions. When the credits roll, one has to ask, who is the real villain?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest could earn its place on AFI’s list from the performances alone. Jack Nicholoson obviously takes the top billing, but the cast has several heavyweights who would go on to play so many memorable characters. Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd portray their respective patient characters with great individuality and physical expression. DeVito’s look is a far cry from the actor many would recognize from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia or modern Jersey Mike’s sandwich commercials. Yet, he is not Danny DeVito in Cuckoo. He is Martini, transformative in mannerism, expression, and whole-body movement. Christopher Lloyd has the same facial and vocal expressions that found their way into the iconic Doc Brown from the Back to the Future trilogy. Every character brings depth to the film, leaving you wanting to know more about them and the events that led to their existence in Cuckoo.

Overall, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a good film carried by great performances and a story that sticks. It deserves its place on AFI’s list, though I am skeptical of such high placement at 33. Although, I’m guessing until I get into the top ten, saying films 11-100 should be ranked differently is splitting hairs. Each film has had a quality that allows it to live beyond the era in which it is made. Cuckoo certainly has the attributes that make it a quality, legendary film. Next, we will return to our regularly scheduled programming, back to number 69: Tootsie.