You think you know Jack? Might I suggest that you can’t handle the Jack I’m about to lay down on you?
I’m just kidding. Mostly. Nicholson’s four films on the IMDb’s top 250 movies are generally accessible — though one of the titles is probably going to cause a significant loss of sleep if you’re not into horror movies.
Per IMDb users at present, Nicholson’s top rated movies are as follows:
18. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
37. “The Departed”
67. “The Shining”
164. “Chinatown”
Okay, I’m going to quibble. While “The Departed” is undeniably entertaining (thanks in large part to Nicholson’s booming portrayal of mob boss Frank Costello), it’s lightweight stuff compared to Martin Scorsese’s other crime epics (“Goodfellas,” “Casino,” and “The Irishman”). Also, while Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Shining” is one of the creepiest films ever made, Nicholson’s showboat performance isn’t as impressive as his more modulated work in “Five Easy Pieces,” “The King of Marvin Gardens” or “The Passenger.”
If you’re still reading after I’ve lightly dinged two of the most celebrated films in the Nicholson canon, I’d also recommend following up your viewing of “Chinatown” with its woefully underrated sequel “The Two Jakes.” Maybe give it a week to let the greatness of Roman Polanski’s masterpiece to wash away, but do not ignore it. Nicholson proves a fairly adept director, and the script has its own surprising twists and turns.
Just don’t, for the love of all god, watch “The Evening Star,” which does for the wonderful “Terms of Endearment” what 2024 Mike Tyson did for boxing. No one needs that in their life.