Great sequels are a rare thing. Especially to a film classic like "Chinatown". Little seen at the time of its release, THE TWO JAKES is the 1990 sequel to the 1974 original.
Jack Nicholson is back as Jake Gittes, private eye. His office and his suits are bigger, LA in 1948 has less sheen and more grit than it did in the lux 30's of the original film.
But he's still taking on adultery cases with his loyal staff.
When a wealthy real estate developer, Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel, excellent) hires Gittes to catch his wife with another man, Jake is sucked into another very complicated case.
Again written by Robert Towne, this is not a "Murder She Wrote" mystery that you'll figure out before the second commercial break.
Its a labyrinth of power, real estate, oil and death with mysterious ties to the case in the first film.
Jake is still haunted by the events of that film and is shocked as echoes of those events start surfacing.
Nicholson not only stars, he directed the film as well and its pretty fantastic. Occasionally, you can feel him stretching for an overly artistic camera shot or a long, lingering edit, but for the most part, he's crafted a beautiful movie, shot by Vilmos Zsigmond (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Deer Hunter) in every perfect California tone imaginable.
Meg Tilly gives arguably her best performance ever as Jake's wife, Eli Wallach is a lawyer working every angle and Richard Farnsworth (The Natural) steals every scene he's in.
But at the center is the incredibly likable Nicholson at his 90's star power zenith, diving under his desk as earthquakes rock his office, sleeping with femme fatales, avoiding switchblades, hand grenades and lawsuits around every corner.
Criminally unseen at the time of it's release, THE TWO JAKES is a great sequel to a great film and gets an A-. Only Madeline Stowe's overacting and a disappointing music score keep it from an A. Where's Jerry Goldsmith when you need him?
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