Nicholson in full swaggering old guy crazy mode as Frank Costello in The Departed is a personal favorite of mine. "With everybody looking up their own ass, and you looking for yourself, I'd put my money on nobody finds nothing" - guarantee Trump has said this line at least once while in the white house
Jan McDaniel - 5 months ago
McMurphy is a singular Nicholson performance for me—primarily for the honesty of his portrayal. All these roles have power, but there is also a stylized quality to the—even Gittes. Either the era (Chinatown) or the genre (The Shining, Batman) puts a layer of artificiality into his acting. But McMurphy transforms from a con trying to alleviate hard time into a reformer of mental health care that so shakes the establishment (remember when it was released) that he is lobotomized to eliminate his power.
This is the high-water mark for Nicholson, IMHO.
Jeff Clark - 5 months ago
Is Nicholson really an actress playing an actress? Now I have an all-new appreciation for their gifts.
Bill VanZandt - 5 months ago
This Nicholson fella can act, can't he? These are all great choices. I finally watched The Last Detail not too long ago and considered it for my vote here, but I just can't get Nicholson's Joker out of my head. Deranged and clearly having a good time with it. Might not be the best performance of his but it's the movie I'd most enjoy watching again.
Is it possible that the deeply flawed Filmspotting poll can't handle the truth? Of all of Jack Nicholson's great movie performances, I have to pick his turn as Col. Nathan R. Jessup in Rob Reiner's "A Few Good Men" as the topper. Capturing Jessup's imperious attitude, and how it becomes his undoing when he tells the judge he'll answer the question even though the answer will destroy him — as Tom Cruise's Lt. Daniel Kaffee predicts (with a dead-on Jack impersonation, by the way). Giving Nicholson a chance to chew up Aaron Sorkin's dialogue was a brilliant choice, and Nicholson runs with it.
Sheila Jennings - 6 months ago
I voted for The Last Detail because I found it to be acting and not just being Jack Nicholson. But I also think that Garrett Breedlove deserves a mention, from Terms of Endearment - turns out that being Jack Nicholson is kind of a perfect former astronaut with ego issues.
Andrew in the UK - 6 months ago
"Gentlemen, let's broaden our minds!" It hurts me to see Nicholson's Joker dying in this poll. In my eyes it'll forever be his finest work. You could make a whole top 5 from his scenes in that film with the clear number 1 being the entire "Partyman" Museum sequence ("where does he get those wonderful toys?") and number 2 being the "death by buzzer" scene I still find more unnerving than The Shining. "What's with that stupid grin?" "Life's been good to me"
(I had to include this exchange from the fireplace scene)
Michael Keaton: I knew a kid once, bad guy, hurt people
Joker: I like him already!
(Shout out to the much-maligned Prince soundtrack album)
Jason Jordan - 6 months ago
I know my answer is supposed to be an awards winning performance like One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest but to me it’s the Joker. My introduction to his work as a child is also in my opinion the most fun and the one I revisit the most
Jonathan Anderson, Denver CO - 6 months ago
Not enough people have seen The Last Detail.
I'm not sure we'll ever get to the point where "enough" people have, so I'll keep saying it to whoever will listen: find and watch The Last Detail.
Brendan - 6 months ago
YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH! It's Colonel Nathan Jessup in A Few Good Men.
Taylor Cole - 6 months ago
Not a bad choice among the options here, but had to go other. I spent most of my youth thinking of Jack as a caricaturist. A talented, supremely watchable caricaturist, but never thought of him as being particularly subtle or nuanced. Catching up with Five Easy Pieces changed all that for me, so I had to give his performance there my vote. Understated in a way that has also unlocked so much more for me to admire in his bigger roles like “The Departed” and my beloved “Anger Management.”
Trent Robb - 6 months ago
Voted The Shining. It's not my favorite film of the choices, but I like his performance the most in it. Also a big fan of Ironweed, and About Schmidt. He's got a lot of great performances. I remember when Siskel and Ebert were praising him for his work in Prizzi's Honor. How he could act with his back to the camera.
Allen - 6 months ago
Batman over Five Easy Pieces as an option? Batman? Come on guys. Why not burn a spot on Anger Management? Or Mars Attacks?
Casey Linzmeier - 6 months ago
His performance in “As Good As It Gets” is gets is incredible. The monologue about how he explains to her that she makes him want to be a better man made me start respecting the Rom-com genre.
Bruce Batchelor-Glader - 6 months ago
I'm voting for Other and "Easy Rider". This was Nicholson's breakout performance in a movie that wasn't that dissimilar to the many small independent pictures he had made before - except that his performance as George Hanson was the surrogate for the uninitiated audience member to join Dennis Hoper's biker gang, indulge in smoking dope and riotous living, and turn this B movie into a major box office success.
Josh - 6 months ago
Of the nominees, it’s gotta be Chinatown. Cuckoo’s Nest a close second. But over his career, Five Easy Pieces. Fatally Flawed Again!
David Levin - 6 months ago
Chinatown-one of my favorite movies.Nicholson is the perfect mix of cynicism, hopefulness and melancholy. Noir perfection!
Dave Allen - 6 months ago
Love the options, but had to go with Other and pick Colonel Jessep in A Few Good Men. That movie is a slow burn to a dramatic climax that would not come close to working without Nicholson's flawless acting. The verbal fencing between Jack and Tom lifts the entire movie to one of my favorites.
Nick Principe - 6 months ago
Can’t go wrong with any of these choices… but I had to go with Other for my all-time favorite Nicholson: Five Easy Pieces. His mania in it is more than a little tinged with melancholy and the performance feels so raw. I always smile thinking about him playing a piano in traffic.
Nicholson in full swaggering old guy crazy mode as Frank Costello in The Departed is a personal favorite of mine. "With everybody looking up their own ass, and you looking for yourself, I'd put my money on nobody finds nothing" - guarantee Trump has said this line at least once while in the white house
McMurphy is a singular Nicholson performance for me—primarily for the honesty of his portrayal. All these roles have power, but there is also a stylized quality to the—even Gittes. Either the era (Chinatown) or the genre (The Shining, Batman) puts a layer of artificiality into his acting. But McMurphy transforms from a con trying to alleviate hard time into a reformer of mental health care that so shakes the establishment (remember when it was released) that he is lobotomized to eliminate his power.
This is the high-water mark for Nicholson, IMHO.
Is Nicholson really an actress playing an actress? Now I have an all-new appreciation for their gifts.
This Nicholson fella can act, can't he? These are all great choices. I finally watched The Last Detail not too long ago and considered it for my vote here, but I just can't get Nicholson's Joker out of my head. Deranged and clearly having a good time with it. Might not be the best performance of his but it's the movie I'd most enjoy watching again.
Is it possible that the deeply flawed Filmspotting poll can't handle the truth? Of all of Jack Nicholson's great movie performances, I have to pick his turn as Col. Nathan R. Jessup in Rob Reiner's "A Few Good Men" as the topper. Capturing Jessup's imperious attitude, and how it becomes his undoing when he tells the judge he'll answer the question even though the answer will destroy him — as Tom Cruise's Lt. Daniel Kaffee predicts (with a dead-on Jack impersonation, by the way). Giving Nicholson a chance to chew up Aaron Sorkin's dialogue was a brilliant choice, and Nicholson runs with it.
I voted for The Last Detail because I found it to be acting and not just being Jack Nicholson. But I also think that Garrett Breedlove deserves a mention, from Terms of Endearment - turns out that being Jack Nicholson is kind of a perfect former astronaut with ego issues.
"Gentlemen, let's broaden our minds!" It hurts me to see Nicholson's Joker dying in this poll. In my eyes it'll forever be his finest work. You could make a whole top 5 from his scenes in that film with the clear number 1 being the entire "Partyman" Museum sequence ("where does he get those wonderful toys?") and number 2 being the "death by buzzer" scene I still find more unnerving than The Shining. "What's with that stupid grin?" "Life's been good to me"
(I had to include this exchange from the fireplace scene)
Michael Keaton: I knew a kid once, bad guy, hurt people
Joker: I like him already!
(Shout out to the much-maligned Prince soundtrack album)
I know my answer is supposed to be an awards winning performance like One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest but to me it’s the Joker. My introduction to his work as a child is also in my opinion the most fun and the one I revisit the most
Not enough people have seen The Last Detail.
I'm not sure we'll ever get to the point where "enough" people have, so I'll keep saying it to whoever will listen: find and watch The Last Detail.
YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH! It's Colonel Nathan Jessup in A Few Good Men.
Not a bad choice among the options here, but had to go other. I spent most of my youth thinking of Jack as a caricaturist. A talented, supremely watchable caricaturist, but never thought of him as being particularly subtle or nuanced. Catching up with Five Easy Pieces changed all that for me, so I had to give his performance there my vote. Understated in a way that has also unlocked so much more for me to admire in his bigger roles like “The Departed” and my beloved “Anger Management.”
Voted The Shining. It's not my favorite film of the choices, but I like his performance the most in it. Also a big fan of Ironweed, and About Schmidt. He's got a lot of great performances. I remember when Siskel and Ebert were praising him for his work in Prizzi's Honor. How he could act with his back to the camera.
Batman over Five Easy Pieces as an option? Batman? Come on guys. Why not burn a spot on Anger Management? Or Mars Attacks?
His performance in “As Good As It Gets” is gets is incredible. The monologue about how he explains to her that she makes him want to be a better man made me start respecting the Rom-com genre.
I'm voting for Other and "Easy Rider". This was Nicholson's breakout performance in a movie that wasn't that dissimilar to the many small independent pictures he had made before - except that his performance as George Hanson was the surrogate for the uninitiated audience member to join Dennis Hoper's biker gang, indulge in smoking dope and riotous living, and turn this B movie into a major box office success.
Of the nominees, it’s gotta be Chinatown. Cuckoo’s Nest a close second. But over his career, Five Easy Pieces. Fatally Flawed Again!
Chinatown-one of my favorite movies.Nicholson is the perfect mix of cynicism, hopefulness and melancholy. Noir perfection!
Love the options, but had to go with Other and pick Colonel Jessep in A Few Good Men. That movie is a slow burn to a dramatic climax that would not come close to working without Nicholson's flawless acting. The verbal fencing between Jack and Tom lifts the entire movie to one of my favorites.
Can’t go wrong with any of these choices… but I had to go with Other for my all-time favorite Nicholson: Five Easy Pieces. His mania in it is more than a little tinged with melancholy and the performance feels so raw. I always smile thinking about him playing a piano in traffic.