Customer Reviews

The Two Jakes (Widescreen)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Two Jakes" is no Polanski treat, yet it is somewhat unjustly compared to its epic predecessor ("Chinatown"). Watch the movie in its own right, and you will be amazed. Chinatown had a trademark Polanski stamp in its fluid narrative and its clever unfurling of clues (just in time for an emotionally explosive denouement) but that is precisely where "Two Jakes" errs. The plot is quite suspenseful but a trifle convoluted. Characters are more deeply examined. If you enjoy intrigue, ala LA COnfidential or Unusual Suspects, this flick is definitely worth your while. If you insist on comparing it to its prequel you may be disappointed. Jack is a terrific actor but his directorial mettle is alarming here as well. Highly recommended!

this movie is the sequel to 1974's Chinatown.Jack Nicholson directed
this film and stars again as Jake Gittes.Robert Towne wrote the script
and the movie is based on characters created by him.it is hard not to
compare this movie to its predecessor and comparisons are inevitable.so
here goes.First off this movie plods along at a snail's pace.there
doesn't seem to be a clear direction.Also,Gittes seems less likable
this time around.the surrounding characters seem to lack any real
imagination,as do the situations.put simply,there is no spark.and the
femme fatalle angle,which worked so well in the original,doesn't work
here.but then who could fill the shoes of the mega star charismatic
actress Faye Dunnaway?no-one.so,the femme in this case is less
fatalle.the script is also lacking in imagination,giving the
director(Nicholson)less to work with.you will be bored nearly to tears
here.a disappointing followup to Chinatown.,as a stand alone
film,however-also disappointing.this movie is not quite awful,but not
quite good either.not recommended. 2/5

i never understood why CHINATOWN
was considered a classic but
for any actor to act the main role
and direct in the same movie
it is not a small acheivement and
the job for THE TWO JAKES is pretty good.

The problem here lies alot more in
the plot,storyline and distribution.

Different actors for the female roles
could have helped a little bit
but the plot is too complicated
and the film should have been shorter.

This is a nice sequel to Chinatown. It is written by Robert Towne, the writer of Chinatown. Where Chinatown is pre-war Los Angeles and surrounds water resources and development of the San Fernando Valley, this film is about post-war Los Angeles and oil.

The DVD is high quality. The image is sharp, color is good, and soundtrack well balanced.

If you have Chinatown you should also add the sequel to your collection.

Two Jakes is great movie, but simply NOT on the level of "Chinatown"... The story is well written, the talent is superb, but the direction lacks the dynamic, passionate style that Polanski put into his masterpiece "Chinatown". Jack, Harvey, Perry, and especially the normally talented Meg Tilly, walk through their parts without tension or emotional dynamics... which is not consistant with either the period, nor the style of early film noir.... this is a film in the style of the 90s, and so Nicholson is seduced by BOTH leading ladies... and it falls flat both times. The music, which is not distinctive, adds nothing to the needed dramatic tension of these characters, which it should have. Still, the movie has some strong points. The photography and set designs are first rate. The scene in the Max Factor building using the actual reception room and exterior is wonderful... the building is now the "Hollywood History Museum" and it was great to see it as it may have appeared in 1948. The new DVD transfer is a fine one, color corrected, and sound is clear and crisp. The performance by Ruben Blades is incredible and he is a frightening tough guy who shows his loyalty and bond to Harvey's character in the end very clearly... not an easy bit of drama to play out on screen. I recommend this one, but just do not expect the same masterpiece that Chinatown is.... and I strongly recommend a person see Chinatown first to understand much of this film.

THE TWO JAKES is a good follow-up to CHINATOWN. The Characters and sets really make this movie. The story is just average but the period details are very good. Too bad Jerry Goldsmith did not compose the score but Jack's great style of directing makes up for quite a lot.

I'm sorry to be so out of step with most other reviewers here but this movie is simply awful. The screenplay is sub-standard, the story is unnecessarily convoluted, and even the editing seems to be slipshod. Why Jack Nicholson chose to direct this movie is the biggest mystery of all.

Watch "The Maltese Falcon" instead.

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 re-wrote most 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 with 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 learn 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 (You're gonna make me aren't you) 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 it's own and is also a nice companion piece to the Noir masterpiece of "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.

This is no comparison to CHINATOWN. But it was massacred by the critics, and a flop at the box office, so that I only reluctantly watched it on TV after reading a suprisingly positive review of it. Well, the positive review was a fair one, because I found this movie to be pretty good. It might help if you're a fan of Los-Angeles-locale-film-noir, as I am. But even if you're not, THE TWO JAKES ain't a bad way to spend an evening.

Readers: take close note of that average customer rating above and dismiss the unfortunate choice of critical review at the top. I think in ten or twenty years this will be brought to the same high pedestal as "Chinatown". From the moment Jack takes note of Harvey's shoes, to the last inspired note of Jo Stafford, this is a work of high and detailed craftsmanship.

The reason I rate this as the best sequel of all time is that the storyteller speaks with twenty years' older voice to us as his equally enriched contemporaries. He observes the nuance in human behavior we would appreciate, and he reveals the subtle qualities of light that reassert L.A.'s beauty. He also tells a more complex and engrossing story, apparently more intricate than reviewers like the one above could understand, but all the better to savor.

For any of us in his generation, Jack has sent a beautiful memento of our earliest days. "Chinatown" was a perfect vintage, but "Jakes" is a perfect thirty-year-old brandy.