10 Awesome Examples Of Overacting

2. Jack Nicholson - The Departed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDTRyjMnDOk We couldn't stand to just settle for one Jack Nicholson entry, so here's another. Martin Scorsese's Best Picture-winning modern classic The Departed is a masterclass of fantastic acting, though one performer stands notably apart from the rest; while Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Ray Winstone and Vera Farmiga deliver genuinely rousing, believable performances, Nicholson, playing gangster kingpin Frank Costello, just completely flies off the handle. That said, Scorsese's deft direction and Thelma Schoonmaker's superb editing manage to mould Jack's ridiculous ad-libbing and facial tics into something that is mischeviously playful and indeed, hugely entertaining to watch. The above scene, in which Nicholson imitates a rat gnawing on cheese as he talks about a rat in his employ is both hilarious and disturbing all at once, cementing Costello's cocaine-fuelled intensity and giving us insight into his character. There's also a classic moment later on when Jack is talking to DiCaprio's character, and as was a total ad-lib, decides to set a piece of paper on fire mid-conversation. Scorsese liked it so much that he kept it in the final cut.