THE TWO JAKES
A film review by Harry K. Zink
Copyright 1990 Harry K. Zink
Just got back from watching THE TWO JAKES, the "sequel" to Chinatown directed by Jack Nicholson.
This will not contain any spoilers (so those of you paranoid about getting your movie experienced destroyed by them may breathe easy). This is meant more as a description of my feelings after seeing this movie.
Well, first of all, I am extremely happy to note that Jack Nicholson has resisted the temptation to make a "popular" movie (quick cuts, upbeat soundtrack, lots of action, lots of sex) but instead has opted to make a "good" film. It might not appeal to the 18-25 year old crowd, but who really cares about them....
This movie takes off a few years after CHINATOWN and Nicholson reprises his role as Jake Gittes, Private Investigator. It seems that the years have been good to Jake, as his business has expanded, but that he is still pre-occupied with the past (of Chinatown). So much for plot summary - go see it if you want to know what the story is.
The movie is exceptionally well made and very pleasant to watch if you are a fan of the original CHINATOWN. Nicholson has obviously gone to great trouble to recreate the same atmosphere and ambiance the original gave the audience. The movie just "felt" good, down to the quality of the color and the cinematography (beautifully executed by Vilmos Zsigismond).
Visually the movie is stunning, but fortunately the storyline and continuity (in my opinion) were not disregarded either. The story kept me at the edge of my seat, though slow at times, yet it kept serving up surprises and twists (especially every time I thought I had it all figured out).
Just as it was a joy to watch the handiwork of Nicholson, The Director, it was equally pleasant to watch Nicholson, The Actor in action (then again, name one movie where that was not the case...) (with the possible exception of THE RAVEN and LITTLE SHOP...).
All I can say is that this movie is definitely worth watching if you would like to see a *GOOD* movie for a change, reminiscent of a time when such movies were still made.
Harry Zink INET: hzink@alchemy.UUCP UUCP: ucrmath!alchemy!hzink
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