The Two Jakes

Long in production, and eagerly awaited, this delayed sequel to Roman Polanski's brilliant 1974 thriller Chinatown, arrived in theaters this Christmas past with an audible thud. Directed by star Jack Nicholson, from a script by Chinatown screenwriter Robert Towne, the story finds private investigator Jake Gittes (Nicholson), in L.A. circa 1948, caught up in a dilemma. Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel)--the other Jake--has Gittes monitoring his wife's extramarital affair with Berman's business partner. When Berman confronts his wife and partner in flagrante delicto, Gittes' tape recorder (which is definitely not state-of-the-art) catches a few moans and groans, some garbled dialogue, and a distinct series of gunshots. The upshot is that Berman kills his partner in a justifiable crime of passion, though no one knows how the gun got in the motel room. As things proceed, Gittes begins to suspect a set-up, and The Two Jakes begins to twist and turn like Rodeo Drive. In a truly far-reaching plot development, the storyline links up with the events in Chinatown (making the film totally confusing to anyone who hasn't seen Chinatown), and moving at a lethargic pace finally carries its juggernaut weight across the finish line. Towne's script has the complexity of his original script for Chinatown, but without the style and heart. And those things are really necessary in a movie that ultimately turns out to be about mineral rights. Not recommended. (R. Pitman)