25 Best Jack Nicholson Movies, Ranked

What could even be said about Jack Nicholson at this point that hasn’t already been said? He had an acting career that lasted for just over 50 years, with his earliest role being in the late 1950s, and his last role being in 2010. As far back as 2013, there were reports suggesting Nicholson had retired from acting, and though he’s never publicly declared this himself, it’s safe to assume he has stepped away from acting, and is enjoying a retired life outside the spotlight.

And honestly, fair enough, and good on him. For half a century, he was one of the most dedicated and consistently interesting American actors out there, and his vast body of work still largely holds up to this day. Within Nicholson’s filmography are plenty of classics, and of the dozens of movies he appeared in, the following titles represent the best, being ranked below from great to greatest.

25 ‘Mars Attacks!’ (1996)

Appeared as US President James Dale and Art Land

As long as you approach Mars Attacks! knowing that it will be a silly mix of comedy and science-fiction, it’s honestly very enjoyable. It’s also best watched as a throwback/homage to – and parody of – sci-fi B-movies that were popular in the 1950s, with this film having intentionally shallow characters and charmingly primitive special effects as a result.

The cast of Mars Attacks! is astoundingly stacked, with Jack Nicholson being joined by the likes of Glenn Close, Danny DeVito, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Michael J. Fox, to name just a few. Even better, viewers get two Nicholsons for the price of one, as he plays both the U.S. President and a casino owner, which could charitably be described as a Dr. Strangelove reference/shoutout, seeing as Peter Sellers played more than one role in that film about a world-ending threat, too.

24 ‘Something’s Gotta Give’ (2003)

Appeared as Harry Sanborn

Towards the end of Jack Nicholson’s acting career, he began appearing in more dramedies and romantic comedies than he had earlier on, when his career was more defined by thrillers, crime movies, and hard-hitting dramas. One of those Nicholson rom-coms is Something’s Gotta Give, where he stars alongside fellow acting legend Diane Keaton (and not for the first time, either).

The film’s secret weapon is probably Keanu Reeves, though, as the central story about Nicholson’s character falling in love with the mother of a much younger woman he’s currently seeing is a bit weird. Flaws in the story/writing aside, the talented cast at least makes it work as well as they can, ensuring Something’s Gotta Give will indeed give rom-com fans something they’re looking for.

23 ‘The Shooting’ (1966)

Appeared as Billy Spear

Though it might’ve taken until the 1970s for the public to finally say, “Hey, this Jack Nicholson guy might be one of the best actors of all time,” Nicholson himself was already proving himself one of the greats in the 1960s. It took until the end of that decade for him to become truly famous, though, with films like 1966’s The Shooting ultimately helping him get there.

At just 78 minutes long, it’s a fast-paced and action-packed Western that follows two miners who agree to escort a strange young woman to a nearby town. It keeps things moving well consistently, and certainly doesn’t overstay its welcome, in the process showing that Nicholson was more than capable of being a Western star, had he wanted to appear in more films within that genre.

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22 ‘The Witches of Eastwick’ (1987)

Appeared as Daryl Van Horne

George Miller is best known for directing all four films in the long-running Mad Max series, but it’s unfair to say that that’s all he’s done in his filmmaking career. Beyond Mad Max, he’s also made various other – often unexpected – movies such as The Witches of Eastwick, which is a unique blend of fantasy and dark comedy.

It’s about three women who all harbor deep desires, and then more or less get what they’re after when Jack Nicholson’s mysterious character enters their lives, only for complications to ensue (they always do, when magic and wishes are involved). It’s the sort of fantastical concept that Miller would tackle in a slightly more interesting way in the underrated 2022 film Three Thousand Years of Longing, but it’s still interestingly done here.

21 ‘The Little Shop of Horrors’ (1960)

Appeared as Wilbur Force

It might not hold a candle to the musical version from 1986, but 1960’s The Little Shop of Horrors is still a worthwhile watch for fans of low-budget, classic B-movies. It was directed by famed filmmaker/producer Roger Corman, and follows a young man who manages to create a talking plant that begins to demand it be fed human blood.

For its time and its tiny budget, it works pretty well as a mash-up of comedy and horror. It’s also notable for being one of the very first movies to feature Jack Nicholson, as he has a small but memorable role here as Wilbur Force, a dental patient who seems to enjoy the pain going to the dentist can cause (the equivalent role was played by Bill Murray in the 1986 version).

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20 ‘Prizzi’s Honor’ (1985)

Appeared as Charley Partanna

In Prizzi’s Honor, Jack Nicholson plays a hitman for a wealthy crime family. He’s shown to be a professional and efficient at his job, but things become complicated when he finds himself falling for a woman who might well also be an assassin, putting his livelihood – and maybe even his life – in danger.

It’s a film with an odd tone, being a romance movie, a crime drama, and also a comedy all at once. It might feel a little overstuffed as a result, but the end product is certainly interesting, and Nicholson’s overlooked yet typically committed performance to a complicated role also ensures this underrated – and somewhat forgotten – movie is worth watching.

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19 ‘Heartburn’ (1986)

Appeared as Mark Forman

In 1986 and 1987, Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep starred in two fairly different movies together: Heartburn and Ironweed, respectively. The latter was an ambitious but somewhat awkward drama largely set during the Great Depression, and the former was overall a better film, following the rocky relationship that ensues after two very different people meet at a wedding and fall for each other.

It’s partly comedic, but probably more of a drama overall, and when tackling the ups and downs of romance, it ultimately emphasizes the downs more. It might be difficult to buy the relationship in the first place, but the way Heartburn explores said relationship’s breakdown with a unique tone makes it an interesting watch.

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18 ‘Ride in the Whirlwind’ (1966)

Appeared as Wes

With the same director, genre, and some of the same cast, Ride in the Whirlwind is something of a companion Western toThe Shooting. They were both filmed back-to-back and released in the same year, though each had different storylines/characters.

In the case of Ride in the Whirlwind, the narrative is concerned with three men who get mistakenly identified as outlaws, and are then chased by a gang of vigilantes. It features Jack Nicholson more prominently than The Shooting, is a slightly better-made movie, and is also notable for the fact it was written by Nicholson, too.

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17 ‘The Pledge’ (2001)

Appeared as Jerry Black

The Pledge is something of a crime, mystery, and psychological drama film all wrapped up into one. Jack Nicholson stars here as a soon-to-be-retired police chief (a bit of a cliché, yes) who becomes intensely dedicated to finding the killer of a young girl, leading him to become obsessed while putting his life – and the lives of others – at risk.

It’s arguably a bit overdone, with director Sean Penn straining too hard (as he often does) to give the film extra amounts of style and intensity. Despite him seemingly trying to ruin the movie, everything else largely works, from the performances to the ending, the latter of which does admittedly leave quite the impact.

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16 ‘As Good as It Gets’ (1997)

Appeared as Melvin Udall

Of all the late-career rom-com/dramedies Jack Nicholson appeared in, As Good as It Gets might be as acclaimed and popular as they get, given this was the movie that saw him win his third acting Oscar. He plays a grumpy old man who learns to become less bigoted and isolated, thanks to his new neighbor, a dog he’s asked to look after, and an unlikely new relationship with a single mother.

It’s difficult for a movie to make a character like this more sympathetic as the film goes on, and it’s the kind of thing that’ll make or break a dramedy. Here, it thankfully generally works, and though it hasn’t aged fantastically across the board, As Good as It Gets still works well, for the most part.

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15 ‘The Passenger’ (1975)

Appeared as Locke

The Palme d’Or-winning filmmakerMichelangelo Antonioni is best known for his Italian-language films, and for making movies that are generally quite obscure and sometimes perplexing. The Passenger showed he could just as easily make a challenging psychological drama with an American actor at its center: Jack Nicholson.

It follows a journalist finding the dead body of a man who looks just like him, at which point he takes that man’s identity and begins to live a new life. However, he doesn’t understand what kind of lifestyle he’s gotten himself into until it’s too late, leading to an inevitably bleak conclusion. It’s an incredibly strange film, but it’s hard to deny that the slow pace, bold visuals, and compelling performances combine to leave quite the impact.

14 ‘Carnal Knowledge’ (1971)

Appeared as Jonathan Fuerst

A lesser-known Mike Nichols movie starring Jack Nicholson (the two also collaborated on the aforementioned Heartburn, among others), 1971’s Carnal Knowledge was a Jack Nicholson movie that was very controversial for its time, owing to its sexual content and dialogue, as well as for the title alone.

Nowadays, it probably doesn’t seem quite so shocking when it comes to content, though its exploration of how some young men view – and treat – young women remains confronting and arguably necessary. It’s a fairly hard-hitting drama, with minimal comedy and a story that doesn’t exactly feel romantic, even if it deals with relationships and physical attraction. It’s underrated overall, and worth checking out for those interested in boundary-pushing movies released during a boundary-pushing decade.

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13 ‘A Few Good Men’ (1992)

Appeared as Colonel Nathan R. Jessep, USMC

It’s probably not too bold a claim to call A Few Good Men the most iconic 1990s movie that Jack Nicholson appeared in. He has a supporting role here, but makes every second of his screen time count in this courtroom drama about a military trial involving two Marines being tried for the murder of another.

Nicholson plays Colonel Nathan R. Jessep, a shady man who seems to know more about the case than he lets on. Tom Cruise plays the young lawyer who spends much of the movie trying to get Jessep to come clean, leading to an expectedly explosive courtroom finale that stands as the movie’s most well-remembered scene.

12 ‘Reds’ (1981)

Appeared as Eugene O’Neill

Over 20 years before Something’s Gotta Give, Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton were both in the Oscar-nominated epic Reds, which had a truly impressive cast that also included Warren Beatty (also the director) and Gene Hackman. It’s a biographical film about John Reed, an American journalist who attempted to spread socialist values among the American working class.

Nicholson plays the real-life American playwright Eugene O’Neill who comes between Reed and Keaton’s character, journalist Louise Bryant, giving the film a fairly healthy dose of romantic drama. Still, with a runtime of over three hours, Reds certainly has the time to go there, with the scope of the film and the skilled performances of its large cast making it worth your time.

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11 ‘Broadcast News’ (1987)

Appeared as Bill Rorish

10 years before As Good as It Gets, James L. Brooks directed Jack Nicholson in another memorable performance in 1987’s Broadcast News, though his role was smaller here. It’s a film that looks at the changing landscape of TV news in the 1980s, all the while showing a love triangle between a female producer, a male newsreader, and a male correspondent.

Nicholson’s performance here is almost more of a cameo, and his name doesn’t appear in the opening credits (only the end credits), with his brief role being that of the network’s lead anchor. Still, it’s always fun to see Nicholson pop up in anything, and it also helps that the rest of the movie still holds up as a compelling workplace comedy.

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10 ‘About Schmidt’ (2002)

Appeared as Warren R. Schmidt

Appropriately enough for one of Jack Nicholson’s last big pre-retirement movies, About Schmidt is a film about the difficulties of growing old. He plays a retired insurance salesman whose quiet existence is upended when his wife suddenly dies, forcing him to re-evaluate much of his life, past, and possible future without her.

It’s a very bittersweet movie, proving funny at times and then crushingly sad at other times. The tone is overall surprisingly well-balanced, and Nicholson is exceptional in the very difficult role he was given to play. Overall, it’s another winning dramedy in the filmography of Alexander Payne, and clear evidence that even during his final years of acting, Nicholson still had it.

9 ‘Easy Rider’ (1969)

Appeared as George Hanson

Easy Rider certainly wasn’t the first Jack Nicholson role – not even the first great one of his – but it was arguably his breakout role. While Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda play the lead roles in this movie about two bikers traveling a great distance to sell drugs, Jack Nicholson steals the show when he appears as a young and carefree lawyer who briefly accompanies the bikers on their journey.

It’s a historically significant film for American cinema as a whole, even outside the fact that it largely served to introduce the world to Nicholson while also getting him his first Oscar nomination. It’s dark, scrappy, and very psychedelic, but ultimately stands as a unique film that’s also one of the best from Nicholson’s earlier years as an actor.

8 ‘Terms of Endearment’ (1983)

Appeared as Garrett Breedlove

Known for being one of the most notorious tearjerkers of all time, Terms of Endearment was yet another successful collaboration between James L. Brooks and Jack Nicholson. Like As Good as It Gets, Nicholson also won an Oscar for his role here, playing a retired astronaut named Garrett Breedlove who has a relationship with Shirley MacLaine‘s character, Aurora Greenway.

Still, the film is ultimately most about the relationship between Aurora and her daughter (played by Debra Winger), with Nicholson appropriately winning Best Supporting Actor as a result. Still, it’s the kind of movie where it’s overall strong and well-made, and Nicholson getting a few scenes to really shine is just icing on the (surprisingly sad) cake that is Terms of Endearment.

7 ‘Five Easy Pieces’ (1970)

Appeared as Robert “Bobby” Eroica Dupea

After being a scene stealer in 1969’s Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces was arguably the first great movie that let Jack Nicholson shine in a leading role. He plays a man trying to make it on his own in the world, traveling across America to find work while also spending a great deal of wasted time in bars and motels.

It’s very much a New Hollywood film, favoring subdued emotions and a story about everyday woes over anything too melodramatic or action-packed. Nicholson’s great in the role here, and though he’s most often praised for his explosive and showy performances, Five Easy Pieces shows how he can excel in quieter, subtler roles, too.

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6 ‘The Last Detail’ (1973)

Appeared as Signalman 1st Class Billy L. “Badass” Buddusky

The Last Detail is yet another great film Jack Nicholson starred in during the 1970s. The loose plot here concerns two men from the Navy being ordered to escort another young man to prison, though feeling guilty about the whole ordeal, they attempt to give him a memorable send-off/journey there, before he ultimately has to face prison time.

It feels split fifty-fifty between comedy and drama to a particularly efficient extent, which is something that filmmaker Hal Ashby was often very good at doing. Nicholson’s great here as one of the guilt-stricken Navy officers, and really makes the most of the excellent and – for its time – profanity-laden screenplay.

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