The great Jack Nicholson has been retired from acting since 2010, when he played a supporting role in the comedy How Do You Know. A 12-time Oscar nominee and 3-time winner, Nicholson has, for decades, been one of Hollywood's biggest stars, as well as one of its most versatile performers. He's played many a hero and a villain in his day, and has received widespread acclaim for portraying all kinds of characters with equal believability.
From comic book supervillains to romantic leading men, there's hardly a character type Nicholson hasn't portrayed on screen. Here are 5 of his most lovable characters, and most hatable.
10 Lovable: Randle McMurphy - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Nicholson won his first Academy Award for his portrayal of Randle McMurphy in 1975's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. This was already his fifth career Oscar nomination, even though he hadn't yet turned 40 years old.
McMurphy is the tragic hero of the film, a mental patient who leads a doomed rebellion against the villainous Nurse Ratched, played by Louise Fletcher, who also won an Oscar for her performance. In the end, Randle is made an example of in the cruelest way imaginable, but his big heart and his warrior spirit make him one of the most sympathetic characters in cinema history.
9 Hatable: Johnny Varron - The Wild Ride
1960's The Wild Ride is a mostly forgotten film, so much so that it's actually in the public domain. It stars Nicholson in one of his earliest roles as Johnny Varron, a troubled young man who hits the road after kidnapping his buddy's girlfriend. He's an arrogant, narcissistic, mean-spirited character in a film that rightfully went nowhere.
In 1999, a re-cut version of the film was released as Velocity, in which additional footage was shot and the original film was used as a long flashback.
8 Lovable: Jake "J.J." Gittes - Chinatown
There's not much to "love" in Chinatown's characters, as it's one of the bleakest neo noir thrillers ever made. But Nicholson's J.J. Gittes, a private eye who's lured into a sinister mystery involving political corruption, incest, and murder. It's a lot for any investigator to handle, and it all goes awry. Jake is no ordinary Hollywood private eye - he sincerely cares about his clients, especially the one in this story.
His decency and commitment to doing a good job is what makes the ending all the more tragic. His good intentions are what make the line, "Forget it, Jake - it's Chinatown," sting so much.
7 Hatable: Francis Costello - The Departed
Nicholson has often played characters that are neither lovable nor hatable. He's mastered the "antihero" role, which he's played in films like Five Easy Pieces and Prizzi's Honor.
At the beginning of 2006's The Departed, however, Nicholson's Francis Costello utters a horrible racial slur in voiceover, establishing right away that this will not be one of those characters of his that the audience "loves to hate," or "hates to love." In Costello's case, audiences just hate him and rightfully so. He's a ruthless, piggish, and bigoted murderer who has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
6 Lovable: Melvin Udall - As Good As It Gets
Nicholson won his second Oscar for James L. Brooks' 1983 film Terms of Endearment, in which he played a flawed but redeemable womanizer. Years later, he reunited with Brooks and won his third statue for his performance as Melvin Udall in As Good as it Gets.
Melvin begins the film a miserable, merciless, and mean misanthrope who lashes out at seemingly everyone in his path. He ends up in an unlikely romance with a waitress at the only diner he's welcome in, and the result is a surprisingly genuine and heartfelt love story that won rave reviews from critics and audiences alike.
5 Hatable: Jonathan Fuerst - Carnal Knowledge
1971's Carnal Knowledge stars Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel as two college roommates whose lives are followed over the course of 25 years. Garfunkel's Sandy is a soft and gentle man, while Nicholson's Jonathan is a hardened and aggressive male chauvinist who objectifies all of the women in his life.
There's no redemption in the film for Jonathan, who is the same superficial and hollow man at the end that he is at the beginning. The film was very controversial at the time of its release for its mature sexual themes.
4 Lovable: Warren Schmidt - About Schmidt
Director Alexander Payne is known for his bittersweet comedies which are often equal parts moving and hilarious. About Schmidt is no exception. Jack Nicholson plays the title character, Warren Schmidt, who hits the road to Denver, Colorado for his estranged daughter's wedding.
Warren is a flawed man, for sure, and if not for the beautifully written screenplay and Nicholson's performance, it would have been hard to look past these shortcomings when evaluating the character on the whole. But Nicholson brings such vulnerability to the character that it's impossible not to forgive Warren in the end.
3 Hatable: Joker - Batman
Nowadays, Jack Nicholson's performance as the Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman is viewed as a scenery-chewing riot. It's important to remember, however, that at the time of its release, Burton's Batman was considered surprisingly dark, and by far the most serious version of Batman ever.
Nicholson's Joker is a gangster-turned-larger than life supervillain determined to bring Gotham to its knees. He isn't quite as crazed and maniacal as Heath ledger's Oscar winning interpretation of the character, but he's hardly benign.
2 Lovable: Edward Cole - The Bucket List
Director Rob Reiner's 2007 drama-comedy The Bucket List stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as Edward Cole and Carter Chambers, a billionaire and an auto mechanic who meet in a hospital where they're both being treated for terminal lung cancer. They decide, against their doctor's wishes, to hit the road and embark on adventure to live out their last days on their own terms.
Critics mostly panned the film as overly sentimental, but audiences liked it quite a bit, as evidenced by its strong audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and its massive $175 million box office haul. Nicholson's Edward Cole reconciles with his estranged family by the end of the film, before he meets his maker.
1 Hatable: Jack Torrance - The Shining
What made Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's novel so brilliant is the way Kubrick and Jack Nicholson approached the character of Jack Torrance. In the novel, Jack is a good man and a loving father who's driven to madness by ghosts at the Overlook Hotel. In the film version, Nicholson's Jack Torrance is a disturbed man and an abusive husband and father before the ghosts drive him into a violent psychotic rage.
It's clear that he mistreats his wife, and it's implied that he is abusive to Danny as well. Once the ghosts at the hotel get to him, he goes from being a terrible person to a maniacal axe murderer.
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