The Two Jakes

The Two Jakes is a sequel to Roman Polanski's atmospheric 1974 film noir "Chinatown". Private detective Jake Gittes once again becomes entangled in an extensive and quite impenetrable fraud affair that also involves murder and adultery.

One of Jake's clients, his namesake Jake Berman, shoots his wife's lover, but what looks on the surface like a crime of passion may have its roots in something quite different. The murdered man, Bodine, was Berman's business partner, and Berman stands to gain a great deal financially from his partner's death.

The case is even more complex, however, for Katherine Mulwray, the daughter of the incest victim Evelyn Mulwray, who met a tragic end in "Chinatown", evidently also plays a part. Thus the past catches up with Jake Gittes, who has his own agenda. He certainly wants to get to the bottom of the case, but not at the expense of Katherine, whom he still feels he let down.

If the plot of "Chinatown" was complicated, it is nothing compared with the plot of The Two Jakes, which throws names and characters around, some of which could easily have been cut. Jack Nicholson has directed himself, and although he is not a bad director, he is no Polanski either. Despite a rather impossible story that sprawls in every direction, the film is exciting enough as far as it goes, but the dense atmosphere of "Chinatown" only shows through in glimpses.