The Two Jakes (1990)

Genre: Crime/Mystery/Drama

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

Chinatown was touted as one of the best crime-mystery movies ever made. Jack Nicholson's performance went a long way in helping the movie succeed the way it did. J.J. 'Jake' Gittes (Nicholson) has returned once more after a span of 16 years after the first movie. Jake Berman (Keitel) is Gittes' client who suspects his wife of sleeping with another man and intends to barge in on her room and catch them red-handed. Gittes bugs his wife's room and is prepared to go in after Berman and get a picture of his wife and lover when catastrophe occurs. Berman manages to get a gun and kills his wife's lover in cold blood. As is turns out, his wife was sleeping with Berman's business partner and the duo had an agreement that if either of them died then the other would be entitled to all assets and profits of the business. If Berman planted his wife with his partner just so that he would have a reason to kill him and take over the business, that makes Gittes an accessory to murder too for being present on the crime scene. Gittes not only needs to save his own self from going to jail but also understand the exact motive for the crime. Like most sequels, this movie too fails to have the charm that the first movie had. The story is weak, twisted and confusing and links back to the first movie. The link back is a bit of a long shot for audiences to remember the story and make sense of the it. Jack Nicholas' performance too seems to be off the mark and fails to re-live the J.J. Gittes of old, the movie too is directed by him, his last such venture till date. A decent attempt at continuing the series but an avoidable movie altogether.

Thumbs up: Nothing in particular

Thumbs down: Confusing story

Rating: 6.5/10