10 Greatest Jack Nicholson Performances Of All Time

Chinatown is seen as one of the greatest movies ever made, a complex, brilliantly written neo-noir crime drama in which Nicholson stars as private investigator Jake Gittes. Gittes deals in matrimonial cases and as the plot quickly unfolds with him reluctantly at its centre, it becomes clear that he is a man who is both sensitive and hard, violent and complacent.

In the film, Gittes is tasked with spying on a woman's husband, but after the husband is murdered he finds in a web of deceit and at the epicentre of a major scandal.

Nicholson's performance keeps Chinatown from becoming a typical crime movie, and in his performance he oozes both familiarity and danger; at once dependable and trusting, but also intimidating and even unpredictable.

After roles in Easy Rider, The Last Detail and Carnal Knowledge, Chinatown was the film which came along and solidified Nicholson's place as one of Hollywood's biggest stars and as one of the best actors ever seen on film - and it's pretty easy to see why. He's in every scene of Chinatown, and his spiralling journey into murder, manipulation and corruption is simply a joy to behold.