The Great Acting Blog: “Jack Nicholson’s Retirement”

The Great Acting Blog: “Jack Nicholson’s Retirement”

“When I watch my own work, I’m always watching him, I’m never watching me. That separation is a part of the trade as well“. – Jack Nicholson

When Jack Nicholson announced he was retiring from acting, I was completely bowled over. The strength of my response was a real surprise. I hadn’t given it much thought but I suppose unconsciously I expected him to go on and on. He’s 76 now, and cited a failing memory as his primary reason for putting his feet up, so the news should not have come as a shock, but it did.

Nicholson is a towering figure in the world of acting, one of the few gods of the craft. For my generation, he has been one of the dominant actors, one of those extraordinary figures who was a true artist within popular culture. His body of work is immense. Probably his career was defined by that golden run during the 1970s which included Chinatown and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. The 80s, 90s and noughties were arguably less potent artistically, but still include Hoffa (a truly great screen performance, one of his most underrated), The Departed and Witches Of Eastwick. Jack Nicholson became a by-word for quality, if he was in it then at the very least the film would be watchable. But his performances were always superb. If his consistency wasn’t remarkable enough, then his continuing impact over so many years is quite possibly a unique achievement, I can think of no other who has produced this equation in the way Nicholson has.

Casting my mind back through his body of work, Nicholson is proof that to be a great actor you must really give great performances in great movies. Great performances in mediocre ones is just not enough. His performance as Mcmurphy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest had a profound effect on me, and I still think about it years after I first saw it. His anger, his frustration, his individuality, his cool, were all thrilling and inspiring. The devilish wit, the rebelliousness and the lack of inhibition were just so compelling. Later, I discovered Five Easy Pieces and saw a different Nicholson to the wild one we had grown up with. The rebellious streak is there but overall he is more restrained and measured, until his famous outburst over the chicken sandwich. His anger coupled with an ironic inflection is just about the perfect piece of acting as you are likely to see. During the early nineties he played union boss, Jimmy Hoffa. It’s not the Nicholson performance that everyone talks about, but they should because it’s an absolute barnstormer. Nicholson goes at it full throttle in many of the scenes, and there is one in particular where he tears into Bobby Kennedy and it’s just spectacular. It’s a performance of energy and force, but of consummate control too. The work of a master craftsman.

We may never see his like again. Acting, in the main, has fallen into a sort of casual naturalism in recent times, with, it seems, less being asked for and given each year. Certainly the great performances seem less in demand. Set against a backdrop of technological razz-a-matazz and a generation of directors who want to put their finger prints all over everything, actors hardly seem like the dominant and inspiring characters they once were. But that is a conversation for another day. It’s time to remember and cherish the work Jack Nicholson has given us over the years and to be grateful for his generosity. He is one of the few truly great actors we have and we can only wish him well in his retirement.

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