Few actors in Hollywood’s long history have had more legendary careers than Jack Nicholson. Ever since he first emerged as part of a new generation of acting talent in the late 1960s, Nicholson has proved that he’s one of the greatest acting talents of his — or any other — generation, alongside the likes of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. With a totally distinct look and an energy that is both terrifying and infectious, Nicholson has taken on a wide array of roles that span multiple genres.
Nicholson continued to deliver great performances decade after decade for nearly 40 years before unofficially retiring in the 2010s (he says he wouldn’t call it retirement, but he hasn’t been in a movie in about a decade now), and this list chronicles some of his very best work. Some of these movies are great thrillers while others might be more neatly defined as comedies, but all of them are great. So while it’s hard to narrow down his storied career in a list like this, we’ve nonetheless decided to rank the 10 best Jack Nicholson movies.
For more great movies to watch, check out our lists of the best movies on Netflix.
Nicholson could play any type of role, but there was something particularly delightful about his best romantic leads. In Something’s Gotta Give, he plays an aging record executive who winds up living with Diane Keaton for reasons that are too convoluted to get into here. As the two slowly fall in love, we see the tender heart that is beating just below the surface of almost every character Nicholson has ever played. It’s a great performance, and it deserves all of the accolades it’s received.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest sees Nicholson in one of the most defining roles of his career as a patient admitted to a mental hospital to avoid a prison sentence. While there, Nicholson’s character tries desperately to convince his fellow patients to rebel against the tyrannical nurse who runs the ward, to no avail. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a movie about attempting to break out and finding that the structures around you are far tighter than you ever could have imagined.
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