Duba wurin da ke ƙasa sannan ka amsa tambayar daga baya a cikin harshe ɗaya kamar yadda wurin yake:  Passage: A cikin Game da Schmidt (2002), Nicholson ya nuna wani mai ritaya na Omaha, Nebraska, wanda ya yi tambaya game da rayuwarsa bayan mutuwar matarsa. Ayyukansa na kwanciyar hankali ya ba shi lambar yabo ta Academy Award don Mafi kyawun Actor. A cikin Gudanar da fushi (2003), ya taka leda a matsayin mai ilimin kwantar da hankali wanda aka sanya shi don taimakawa wani mutum mai zaman lafiya (Adam Sandler). A shekara ta 2003, Nicholson ya kuma taka rawa a cikin Wani abu Dole ne ya ba, a matsayin mai tsufa mai wasan kwaikwayo wanda ya fada cikin mahaifiyar (Diane Keaton) na budurwarsa. A ƙarshen shekara ta 2006, Nicholson ya nuna komawarsa zuwa duhu a matsayin Frank Costello, wani mugun shugaban Boston Irish Mob, dangane da Whitey Bulger wanda har yanzu yana kan gudu a wancan lokacin, yana jagorantar Matt Damon da Leonardo DiCaprio a cikin fim din Martin Scorsese wanda ya lashe kyautar Oscar, The Departed, wani sabon abu na Andrew Lau's Infernal Affairs. Matsayin ya sami Nicholson yabo mai mahimmanci a duk duniya, tare da nasarorin da aka samu da kuma gabatarwa, gami da gabatarwa ta Golden Globe don mafi kyawun ɗan wasan kwaikwayo.  Tambaya: A wace shekara ne About Schmidt ya fito?
Shekarar 2002