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The Two Jakes

Catalog Number
1854
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The Two Jakes (1990)

Additional Information

Additional Information
They say money makes the world go round. But sex was invented before money.


The Two Jakes is the much-delayed and rather convoluted sequel to the 1975 classic Chinatown. Released in 1990 after an abortive stab at shooting that began in the mid-'80s, the film was the subject of a creative feud between its principals, star Jack Nicholson, producer Robert Evans, and screenwriter Robert Towne. Private eye Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is a middle-aged war hero, paunchy, snobbish about his golf game, and about to marry a lovely and much younger woman. Then a fleeting reference to a woman he once loved that he heard on a wire recording plunges him into a past he has tried to escape. It comes while he was spying on a philandering wife (Meg Tilly) and her paramour in her motel room for her husband, Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel). Then Berman shocks Gittes when he shoots his wife's lover. Gittes is doubly stunned when he learns that Berman was partners with the dead man in a subdivision that may contain huge oil deposits. So now Gittes wonders, was it justifiable homicide or murder? The answer lies in the wife (Madeleine Stowe) of the dead man, her shady oil baron friend (Richard Farnsworth), and in the past he has tried to avoid.

The Two Jakes is a 1990 American Neo-noir mystery film, and the sequel to the 1974 film Chinatown. Directed by and starring Jack Nicholson, it also features Harvey Keitel, Meg Tilly, Madeleine Stowe, Richard Farnsworth, Frederic Forrest, Pia Gronning, David Keith, Rubén Blades, Tracey Walter and Eli Wallach. Reprising their roles from Chinatown are Joe Mantell, Perry Lopez, James Hong, Allan Warnick[2] and, in a brief voice-over, Faye Dunaway. The character of Katherine Mulwray returns as well, played by Meg Tilly.

It was released by Paramount Pictures on August 10, 1990 (the same year as another high profile sequel from Paramount, The Godfather Part III). The film was not a box office or critical success, and plans for a third film about J. J. Gittes, with him near the end of his life, were abandoned.

Unlike its predecessor, the film performed poorly in terms of box office,[4] was not nominated for any awards and critical reception was very mixed, although it found some success in the home media market.[5] The film holds a 65% rating on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes.[6] Roger Ebert gave the movie 3.5 stars out of four, writing that "every scene falls into place like clockwork [...] exquisite."[7] Vincent Canby writing for The New York Times called it "an enjoyable if clunky movie".[8] Variety called the film "a jumbled, obtuse yet not entirely unsatisfying follow-up to Chinatown".[9] Desson Howe writing for The Washington Post said that "at best, the movie comes across as a competently assembled job, a wistful tribute to its former self. At worst, it's wordy, confusing and -- here's an ugly word -- boring."[10]

Release Date: August 10, 1990

Distrib: Paramount


Boxoffice:

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