The effect of oil film force nonlinearity on unbalance response of Jeffcot rotor-elliptical bearing system is studied. Linear analysis is done by linearizing the bearing oil film dynamic forces and expressing them with stiffness and damping constants. Nonlinear dynamic simulation is done by taking the nonlinearity of bearing oil film dynamic force into full consideration, with the latter being expressed by a special database which is generated beforehand, and based on non-stationary Reynolds equation and Reynolds boundary condition of film rupture. The linear and nonlinear unbalance responses of a Jeffcot rotor supported on a pair of elliptical bearings is studied. The resulting dynamic characteristics and rotor and journal whirling orbits are compared. While good consistancy between nonlinear and linear predictions is found under very small unbalance, significant or even drastic differences are found whenever the unbalance is not small, indicating the necessity of including the nonlinearity of oil film dynamic forces, especially when response to large unbalance is to be predicted.