GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

kapelusznik18 ****SPOILERS*** With the original director of the hit movie "Chinatown" Roman Polanski on the lamb in far off Europe as a fugitive from justice it came down to actor Jack Nicholson to pick up the ball and direct it's sequel "The Two Jakes" with him playing one of them private eye Jake Gittes. It's Jake who's involved with the other Jake L.A real-estate developer Julius "Jake" Berman, Harvey Keitel, who feels that his old lady Kitty, Meg Tilly, is cheating on him. As it later turns out Kitty is in fact cheating on Jake with his real-estate partner Mark Bodine,John Hackett, who's gunned down by what seems like , were never really sure, Jake Berman himself. That's when Mark is found with his pants down as well as wig off at the Bird of Paradise hotel in downtown L.A.The film then gets to what exactly Jake, that's Berman, really had going at his housing development that was frequently rocked with tremors and earthquakes making it almost impossible for anyone to live there. It takes a while but were soon to find out that there's a major oil field, 22 by 46 miles, underneath the housing development that a number of people including top L.A hood Michael "Mickey Nice" Weisskopf, Ruben Blades, and millionaire financier Earl Raway, Richard Farnsworth, are itching to get their hands on.***SPOILERS*** What's the biggest surprise in the film is Jake's, that Jake Berman, wife Kitty who as it turns out is not whom he as well as Jake, that Jake Gittes, and us in the audience think that she is. This is soon discovered, Kitty's real identity by Jake, that Gittes, himself after an exhausting search for the truth in Mark Bodine's murder that Jake, that's Jake Berman, is accused of. It turns out that Kitty did indeed knew Jake, that Gittes, some ten years ago in the movie "Chinatown" that messed up his mind ever since. At the end of the film Jake, that's Berman again, is no longer worried what's to happen to him in that he cleared or tied up all the loose ends in both his and Kitty's life. With nothing to do and nowhere for him to go Jake, That's Jake Berman, just lights up a cigarette and blows himself to smatterings in his gas, natural gas, filled condominium. At the time he had no fear of death in that he was dying, from radiation poisoning, already.

Maziun It's hard not to compare "Two Jake's " to "Chinatown " and the results are rather bad for "TJ". "Two Jakes" is vastly inferior to "Chinatown". Even the best elements from this sequel (the dialogue and acting) are less impressive than in Polanski's classic. Why this movie was made after 16 years ? "Chinatown" didn't really needed a sequel .The movie is set fifteen years after the events shown in "Chinatown" . Jake Gittes is still haunted by the past , while there is new mystery on the horizon. Unsuspringly the new mystery will be someway connected with the old case… I strongly suggest you should watch "Chinatown" before this one.The biggest plus of the movie is the acting of Jack Nicholson and Harvey Keitel . Both gave great performances mainly because the script gives them a lot to play with. On the other side the acting of Meg Tilly and Madeline Stowe is rather bad . Tilly lacks charisma , while Stowe is terribly over-acting . The other actors provide capable support .The screenplay as other reviewers mentioned is the biggest problem of the movie . The dialogues are definitely good and I have enjoyed more or less subtle references to "Chinatown" . It was nice to see all of the various supporting characters that previously appeared in Polanski's movie. Unfortunately , Towne's screenplay feels like a retread of "Chinatown". Water is replaced with oil , there is another rich old guy and so on… The story uses too many elements from previous movie that seem awfully contrived as they are woven into the current plot . There is one big twist that isn't a twist at all , because it's so obvious ("Do I know you "?). Compare that to the twist in "Chinatown" . Now that was a BIG TWIST … There are also some awfully laughable moments (footsteps , explosion) and good moments (twist with the chair , joke on the golf court). Some characters appear , but have no effect on the whole story (fiancé , oil man ).The movie obviously tries to tell something about the past, how it pervades our lives for the rest of our days, and how we assimilate it into our futures. It feels honest , even if not quite convincing. I also liked the use of voice-over. It certainly helps to create a mood to the film.Jack Nicholson's direction is bland and unimaginative , but in his defense there is one good scene filled with tension ("Suck it") . "Two Jakes" also shows the viewer a convincing re-creation of 1948 Los Angeles. The music by Van Dyke Parks is completely forgettable and lame compared to Goldsmith score from "Chinatown". Director of photography Vilmos Zsigmond capture a Los Angeles of burnt out dreams, on the brink of over-development and over-expansion.There were going to do a third movie - "Cloverleaf" , but it never got made after the failure of this one. This was the second part of a supposed trilogy, all based, according to Towne, on natural goods ("Chinatown" - water, "Two Jakes"- earth, "Cloverleaf"-air pollution).With a better screenplay , director and music "Two Jakes" could have been a really solid movie. It feels like a rather poorly made-for-TV version of "Chinatown" . I give it 3/10.

thinker1691 The classic hard boiled detective of the fifties is among the most popular characters ever created. Guys like, Sam Spade, Mike Hammer and now J.J. Gitties have become immortalized on the big screen. Ever since audiences watched 'Chinatown' there has been a steady stream of fan mail asking for a sequel. This movie connects the original and is called " The Two Jakes. " In this follow up story which dealt with water rights and was filled with a twisted and scandalous family, is back with an even more confusing signature of who wants, what and where. Jack Nicholson not only directs, but also stars as J.J. 'Jake' Gittes, the introspective, but sophisticated Private Eye. Harvey Keitel plays Julius 'Jake' Berman, the rich and futuristic housing developer who has several schemes with which to grow wealthier, but to secure his wife's future. Eli Wallach, plays Cotton Weinberger, the high price attorney. Rubén Blades plays Michael 'Mickey Nice' Weisskopf, who is out to solve problems despite whom it may hurt.Perry Lopez, returns as Captain Lou Escobar with David Keith as an ambitious Dectective out to nail Gittes. Richard Farnsworth, Earl Rawley, Tracey Walter and James Hong add to the list of great stars in the movie. Though the story is as deep as a fifties novel, if one pays close attention, the out-come is inevitable. Seen is this retrospective and the modern problems arrayed in the future, this dramatic movie should lay the foundation for the third in the series. All in all, the movie should be listed as second in a trio of Classic movies for Nicholson. Recommended for anyone who loved the oldies movies with the hard bitten Private eye, spinning a tale. ****

Jay Raskin The opening twenty minutes are fine, but the movie slowly, ever so slowly starts rolling downhill from there. At about the one hour mark, I was having a tough time paying attention. The problem is perhaps that you don't really care all that much about the characters. A few of the contrived "cool" scenes, like the "hand grenade" or the "blow up" or the "down on your knees" scenes are momentarily interesting, but they're really kind of "in your face" pointless.It is my belief that when you have all actors acting well in a movie it is to the director's credit. In this case, everybody is acting mediocre, including Nicholson, which points towards the sad fact that Nicholson, a great actor, is only a mediocre director. When you have Harvey Keitel, Jack Nicholson and Meg Tilly in a movie and you can't get a great performance from any of them, it is time to go back to film school.The really sad thing is that if we didn't have terrible district attorneys and judges in California who are more interested in being famous than following the legal system, a truly great director, Roman Polanski would have probably given us a great movie. Instead we have a movie that is repetitious, meandering and dull.The costumes and set design are quite good and occasionally striking. However that should be the icing on the cake of a good story. In this case, we're just getting the icing on the pop-tart.You might let Robert Town know that I am available to direct the third part of the trilogy. I am confident it would be better than the second, although not nearly as good as the first.