10 More Great Actors With Terrible Last Movie Roles

1. Jack Nicholson - How Do You Know

Robin Williams
Columbia Pictures

In 2013, Jack Nicholson said that he wasn’t retired but that he was no longer interested in being in the public eye any more. Still, in that time he has not worked on any major production in any way except a brief dalliance with a project with Kristen Wiig which was canned, and is largely considered to be done with this career in cinema.

And what a filmography he leaves behind: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, A Few Good Men, Batman and The Shining just to scrape the surface, Nicholson’s career is so deep that it would be hard for most cinephiles to make a personal top 10 without regretfully leaving something great off the list. The Academy agrees too, as Nicholson happens to be the most nominated man in the history of the Oscars.

His last performance however? Nothing to write home about, to say the least.

Written and directed by James L. Brooks, How Do You Know is a 2010 romantic comedy that somehow manages to star Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon and Jack Nicholson and yet manages to utilise none of them to great effect.

The combined salaries of these stars ballooned into a budget it could never hope to make back, especially as a bumbling two-hour romcom with almost zero chemistry between its cast. What a way to bow out.

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The Red Mage of WhatCulture. Very long hair. She/they.