There’s an old saying that “the devil is in all men, but for some men it appears doubly so.” No, I’m not talking about Dick Cheney. This is a movie blog. Nor am I referring to the devil in that demon-possession movie where pea soup is projected like it’s coming out of a fire hose. I’m referencing what I call the naughty boy gene. It’s that devilish gene that brings out the bad boy in adult men, and no movie actor has ever embodied this wickedly amusing, “cat who ate the canary” screen persona more than Jack Nicholson.
In Chinatown, when John Huston’s character tells Jack's Jake Gittes that he has “a nasty reputation” – you know exactly what he means! Many of Nicholson’s early roles could be characterized this way. I love it when a frustrated Jack clears the table in Five Easy Pieces, telling the waitress she can hold the chicken salad between her knees. (That waitress had it coming!) Nicholson’s nasty screen reputation was undoubtedly influenced by the anti-establishment movement of the 60’s. During this time, he often played a radical malcontent with a violent temper as in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Jack could also transform into the authority figure with a temper too. I think of Jack slamming his pistol down on the bar in The Last Detail and screaming, “I AM the mother-fucking shore patrol!” It’s pure devilishness!! Nicholson is terrific at playing the non-conformist. Nobody does it better. His most memorable characters are the fearless rebels who are not afraid to stand out, fall behind, run ahead or make a ruckus.
There’s a lesson here. By playing the devilish character, it’s likely that some people won’t like you. That’s part of standing out. Nobody gets unanimous praise – ever. However, it’s actually a riskier strategy to be boring and likeable. Boring always leads to failure. Playing it safe is boring for a man, and Jack is never boring.
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