One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Major problems face the viewer who watches this film in 2021, approaching 50 years after its release. Most prominent among those problems is the distraction factor that comes from having seen a great many of these actors in various other roles. You have to make an active effort to sink yourself into the time and place of this movie. When you lock in, you recognize that one of the key ingredients here is actually subtlety. If this film were made today, the strokes would be much broader; Nurse Ratched would be a Cruella-type villain and McMurphy would be a faultless hero. Neither applies to the presentation here; you can see both sides of this "argument" although ultimately, the movie's moral still comes through in the end. Another impression: it's entirely possible that Jack Nicholson has never played any character other than Jack Nicholson. I'm not sure what to make of that--just bringing it up here. All in all, this is a film worth seeing; not sure I would have made it Best Picture (though I don't have the perspective to compare it to all of its competition from that year), but this film's long-lasting influence has the ultimate say.

The Departed

The good news: Scorsese put together a hell of a cast for this film. The bad news: it was Scorsese directing them. This movie neatly exposes and sums up the Scorsese problem: a technically fine film that lacks something, or is off-putting in some crucial way. That aforementioned cast is a case in point: as in all this director's movies, everyone throws himself too forcefully into his role; you can practically see the actors look at the camera and say, "Check out how intense I make this scene." The effect is not one of intensity, but of actors trying too hard (at best) or chewing the scenery (at worst). And it's up to the director to reel that in and hit just the right note. As usual, Scorsese doesn't do that here. And the movie is consequently less than it should be.

Something's Gotta Give

The positive review comes largely on the strength of Diane Keaton's energetic performance. She injects such life into her character that it becomes difficult not to be interested in this otherwise slight and predictable story. The biggest quibble: when the happy ending finally comes, you can't help feeling that she wound up with the wrong man. It's a credit to Keaton that you actually care about that.

About Schmidt

An overly laconic beginning almost torpedoes this one before you can give it a chance. Hang in there and you will be richly rewarded with a quirky, interesting, and funny tale, as well as a breathtakingly honest and sincere performance from Jack Nicholson which--given so much of what came before it--is nothing short of astounding. Don't miss it.

Five Easy Pieces

Strange, stilted and seemingly pointless. Nicholson's character comes off as nothing more than a spoiled jerk. I sat through the whole thing, but just barely.

Easy Rider

Actually not as good as the obscuring haze of time makes it out to be. But definitely worth a look as one of the defining works of its time. And more movies should have characters discussing the nature of life and society in them, as Jack Nicholson so memorably does here.