Jack Nicholson is widely considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. This is an acclaim which is hard for even his harshest critic to deny. From his humble film beginnings with Roger Corman to Martin Scorcese academy award winning feature The Departed, Nicholson has earned his status as a true American icon.

Jack Nicholson is the kind of actor who breaths life into any character he plays. He always manages to surprise you with his performance even when he is playing roles you may not have thought him appropriate for. A great example of this is his role as the Joker in Tim Burton's Batman. It is when Nicholson gets the chance to play his bad guys that he really shines. Most notably in A Few Good Men with Tom Cruise. Nicholson gets to strut his stuff as the local bad guy which he does with surprising effectiveness.

Just when you think you've seen everything Nicholson has to offer he breaks out something new. For example, his role in The Departed, he plays his character with all the brutality and uncaring that you would expect from a Scorcese gangster. However, at the same time he allows you to look into the character's heart and understand who he is and why he does the things that he does. Nicholson even further benefits from the fact that the movie has pretty much an all star cast including Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Mark Wahlberg. They all seem right at home in the presence of a true great such as Nicholson. There is never a moment when you watch Nicholson where you feel like you don't know where he is going in the film or in the role. You can always count on him to deliver a great performance.

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