The Two Jakes | | Cast : | Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel | | Director : | Jack Nicholson | | Studio : | Paramount Studio | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | August 10, 1990 | | DVD Released Date : | August 19, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 01, 2005 | | Summary | Notable and worthy directorial effort! | Content
 | Jack Nicholson decided to throw his hat at ring again with this sequel of Chinatown. There are many interesting aspects to remark. The dare camera angles, the locations, and the formidable cast overpass the only default of the picture. And even the film suffers of a very quiet rhythm, extremely talky and flat in its dramatic development, the true essence of the Noir Film remains as the oil, clear and visible.
But the whole result exceeds by far, the sum of its parts. Harvey Keitel, Eli Walach and Madeleine Stowe are splendid.
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| Rating | | | Date | June 26, 2005 | | Summary | Haunted by the Past | Content
| Jack Nicholson knew no one could ever equal the masterpice of Polanski's "Chinatown" so he didn't try. What he did make when he took over this troubled production from Robert Towne (Polanski still claims he had to re-write much of Chinatown) was a visually beautiful portrait of 1948 Los Angeles in a boom that is a meditation on the past and how it haunts us.
From the smoke ring filled opening of Peggy Lee's "Don't Smoke in Bed" to Jo Stafford's "Haunted Heart" at the end, Nicholson frames the colorful orange and blues of 1948 Los Angeles against the darker internal memories of the past. Gittes is a successful P.I. who works on divorce cases and plays golf. L.A. County is filled with orange groves created by the water so sought after in "Chinatown." But Gittes is about to be reminded you can never really forget the past.
Los Angeles of 1948 is booming with housing going up everywhere. But just as in "Chinatown" nothing is ever enough. Oil is the new water and some people will even kill for it. Harvey Keitel is great as the 'other' Jake and Perry Lopez is on hand once more as Gittes' old pal Lou Escobar. Some of the best exchanges in the film are between these two. Rueben Blades and Frederick Forest give nice support as does Richard Farnsworth as weathered oilman Earl Rawley. Madeline Stowe nearly steals the show as the outwardly prim and proper but inwardly frustrated nymph Lillian Bodine.
But it is Jake's meeting with the softly beautiful and vulnerable wife of the other Jake that triggers something. Meg Tilly is terrific as Kitty Berman, and Gittes can't quite understands why she gets him thinking about the past until he revisits it himself in the form of Kahn (James Hong), the Mulray's former servant. There is something about the flowers....
As things come full circle from the past to the present Gittes will have to revisit the past more than he wants to, and in doing so will find all the closure he will ever get and maybe a chance to help Evelyn Mulray in a way he could not before. This is a great film that stands on its own yet is also a nice companion piece to the noir masterpiece "Chinatown."
My favorite line from this film comes when Gittes rebukes a woman in a restaurant. He tells her: "I may be the town leper, but I'm the town leper with the most fingers." This is one you don't want to miss. It really is terrific and a must see for Nicholson fans. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 27, 2005 | | Summary | Unsatisfying | Content
| This is the sequel to "Chinatown," perhaps the greatest modern example of film noir. Directed by Roman Polanski, the original resembled a great piece of nonfiction in movie format; it slowly and steadily unfurled until it came to its surprising conclusion - and when it was over, the audience had been educated and entertained all the while.
"Chinatown" was written by Robert Towne, who also wrote "The Two Jakes." Then, as now, Towne used the reliable devices of adultery and blackmail to peer into the unseemly world of L.A.'s booming development in the 1930s. In the first film, the real treachery involved water. In this, the second film, it involves oil. The story is excellent in both cases.
Here, in a nutshell, is the problem: direction.
Direction is a tricky thing. Many great scripts have become confusing or ordinary in the hands of lesser auteurs. Towne was to direct this sequel; however, he was replaced by Nicholson. So this movie is Jack's baby.
Apparently, he must not have done the directorial thing before - I don't know. What I do know is that "The Two Jakes" is full of the most ham-handed work I have ever seen, in terms of setting up a scene, or condensing a dense plot into a flowing, digestible, unified piece of art.
The first half of the movie has each returning character from "Chinatown" paraded out in scenes full of lingering close-ups and shown chatting at length with only Jack, as if to say, "That Jake Gittes, he's up to something once again."
All of which is good if you are making A Movie Starring Robert Redford. But "Chinatown" succeeded largely because Polanski's direction never played up the celebrity of its stars. Nicholson, Dunaway, John Huston - whoever - the story was the most important thing. Scenes revealed just enough to keep you interested and involved. By comparison, "The Two Jakes" is flabby with takes of Jack front and center, doing nothing to advance the story.
The point is, the scenes with the Khan character, the Escobar character, the Dunaway flashback/monologue - all of these serve only to focus the attention back onto the male lead, the star, the director.
Now I am not saying this is a vanity piece. The writing, although muddled for the first hour or so, is very good. And the acting is solid. Special praise is due Harvey Keitel and Ruben Blades, two tough guys who nail their roles to a T. Meg Tilly does a good job, too. The last half of the movie proceeds much more assuredly, and the ending resolves iteself nicely.
There's a lot of merit in this project. I just wish it hadn't been tailored to make Jack Nicholson into the shining beacon, and to make the story, cast, and incredible scenery into the surrounding dark night. That was not how "Chinatown" became a classic.
As a Jack fan, I am ashamed to say this, but he should have left this baby alone. (And declined the pasta a few times, too). |
| Rating | | | Date | August 16, 2004 | | Summary | Awesome sequal | Content
| This sequal to Chinatown was worth watching on dvd
It's so cool
The plot gets just as deep as the plot in Chinatown
Jack made me think alot in this one who the bad guy was
and also he made me laugh and smile alot just like in the last film. Jack plays his roles well> Anyone who wants to put him down for acting and directing should be in his shoes. it's not easy to direct a movie and star in it. I give him mad props for directing The Two Jakes. He rocks. He knows how to cast a scene well. The actors are really interesting in this one as well.
The plot gets deeper in the middle and end
and when the movie ends is when I was shocked the most
I never saw it coming
Really cool cast to watch. They really played cool roles
I would recommend this film to people that are just getting into Nicholson. He deserves some respect. He is a good guy. Very talented. I can't wait to get all his movies on dvd. especially more of the others he directed. He will always be respected by me. It sucks he got bad reviews at the Box Office. I liked the movie alot
and have watched it 8 times already and still wanna watch it.
The music hooked me in alot too. Just like in Chinatown. Riveting seriously :) |
| Rating | | | Date | July 23, 2004 | | Summary | Top Notch Mystery | Content
| The warm LA nights are suffocatingly thick with the perfume of hibiscus and carbon monoxide. The city is in the beginning of the post war boom and the rush is now for oil and expanding real-estate over water squeeze of the 30's. Along the cracked sidewalks where primordial tar oozes between the cracks a ghost still walks beside Private Eye, Jake Gittes.
In this well made sequel to "Chinatown" we are presented with the final chapter in the tragedy of Jake Gittes and Evelyn Mulwray. The film is meticulous in its attention to the post World War II Southern California setting. Stunning in the recreation of the period just as "Chinatown" was to the 1930's Los Angeles.
The convoluted Chandleresque story is intriguing and pulls one quickly back into the web of the old story. Jack Nicholson re-creates an older and somewhat wiser Jake Gittes with all the skill and ease of the master of his generation. To top it off he directs with ease and assuredness. It is a real treat to see him working here at the top of his form as he moves into middle age and mellows as an artist without losing his sting.
Harvey Keitel is the strong compelling center of the film in his appearance as the second Jake in the story. He is brilliant as a man hiding the truth on many levels. His eyes, as he listens to Gittes, glitter with pain and despair even as he tries to hid it from everyone including himself. His mix of toughness with heartbreaking vulnerability is fascinating to watch. He has never been better.
Meg Tilly is properly cool and distantly mysterious as Keitel's wife who holds the ultimate key to the mystery that haunts both the Jakes. Madeleine Stowe in a comic turn delivers a sharply funny performance as she bounces across the screen like a hopped up Rosalind Russell. She nearly steals the picture out from under everyone's noses.
Not the masterpiece that "Chinatown" was, none the less "The Two Jakes" is entertaining and a fine follow-up to the original. The film is worth seeing for the performances by all mentioned as well as the wonderful atmosphere of a long lost Los Angeles.
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