Continuity mistake: You see an opening scene where McMurphy is arriving by automobile. When he gets out of the car it is a cloudy dark day. A few seconds later when he is being brought into the hospital with the guards we see them entering the front door together from down the hallway. Now you can see that it is a bright sunny day outside. (00:04:20)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
1 review
Directed by: Milos Forman
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco, William Redfield
Genres: Drama
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Average rating
(3 votes)
8.4/10. A decent movie.
More mistakes in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
McMurphy: What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin'? Well you're not! You're not! You're no crazier than the average asshole out walkin' around on the streets, and that's it.
Trivia: Ken Kesey, the author of the novel upon which the film was based, was originally hired to work on the screenplay but was fired soon thereafter.
Question: I'm not from the USA so excuse the lack of knowledge, would pleading insanity really get you off a rape charge?
Answer: Insanity, legally, is defined as not knowing right from wrong. It can also be "temporary." It can only be diagnosed by a licensed psychiatrist, and it is rarely determined as such. Laws vary from state to state, but if a person was guilty of a serious crime and was found to be insane, they'd be confined to a mental hospital, either long-term, permanently, or, if they sufficiently improve, they'd be either be released after a certain amount of time or transferred to a general prison to complete their sentence or remain there indefinitely.
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Answer: 1) McMurphy didn't exactly "get off" by reason of insanity; he was still incarcerated for an indefinite amount of time, just in a psychiatric facility rather than a traditional prison. 2) He was originally sent to a normal prison for the statutory rape charge, but is then transferred to the mental hospital due to repeated acts of aggression that suggested some form of psychosis (or, as the doctor suspects, faking it to get out of hard labor). 3) No, it wouldn't. The insanity defense is a) very rare and b) very hard to prove, and it would be difficult to apply to rape, statutory or otherwise.