The Two Jakes

The Two Jakes (1990)

Runtime: 137 long minutes

Directed by: Jack Nicholson

Starring: Jack, Harvey Keitel, Madeleine Stowe, Meg Tilly, Ruben Blades

From: Paramount

Saturday night I rewatched Chinatown, which is still a bona-fide classic. Last night was seeing this for the first time; "classic" would be a rather inaccurate way to describe its quality: 

Parallels can be made between this and The Godfather, Part III; they were sequels to films that came out 16 years prior and those were hailed as among the best films of the 1970's at the very least. Trying to capture the same magic after all that time is difficult, not to mention trying to reach such lofty expectations that it will be comparable to a classic. I think the third Godfather isn't bad at all (it just has some bad elements), although it isn't an all-time great like the first two; this film I just saw for the first time last night as I had heard it would be beneficial to see Chinatown again right before I saw that. That is correct as this film relies heavily on the first tale told about Jake Gittes.

Unfortunately, this film just came off as a crappier, more boring version of Chinatown. The scheme is based on oil instead of water but it's pretty similar... just not as good. It starts off with adultery only for things to become much more complicated, people are looking to kill Gittes, there's a femme fatale, etc. While Chinatown was always captivating in its story, a lot of this plot is just dull and not too exciting to watch, and the leaning upon the original film was perhaps a little bit too much.

It's a shame as there were talented people in front and behind the camera. I can't complain too much about Nicholson, the director... even if there were a few odd moments. I can't say this movie was bad or unwatchable; the story is just not that engaging and it does not rise above mediocrity. A shame, whether or not you compare it to the classic original; the 1948 Los Angeles setting is well-realized and this should have been at least good. Alas...