Sixteen years after the neo-noir classic Chinatown came this sequel, with Jack Nicholson reprising his role as the gritty sleuth, Jake Gittes. This project was delayed in production for years, until Nicholson himself took over as its director. While it failed at the box office and some critics panned it as clunky, others like me feel that ‘The Two Jakes’ did not get the respect it deserved.

I can also see why ‘The Two Jakes’ got some of its criticism. Sixteen years is a long time to retain the plot of a film in one’s memory. As the movie heavily references the plot of Chinatown, it is difficult to fully appreciate the context of some of its narrative and dialogue. The movie’s cinematography uses the same color palette as Chinatown.

I would recommend that anyone who plans to watch this movie should watch Chinatown first. If it has been a while since you watched Chinatown, it would be worth your while to watch it again. For one thing, Chinatown is worth watching, and secondly, it will enhance your viewing experience of ‘The Two Jakes’. Luckily for us, we live in times where we can access both movies and watch them in quick succession.

The producer of The Two Jakes, who bought the rights to make a Chinatown sequel, brought back Robert Towne, its illustrious screenwriter, to write the plot of the movie. In addition to Nicholson, there are quite a few other actors who appeared in Chinatown, reprising their roles in ‘The Two Jakes’. The movie also includes a voice-over by Faye Dunaway, who played the female lead of Chinatown.

The plot of ‘The Two Jakes is set in 1948, more than a decade from that of Chinatown. Jake Gittes has aged as expected, accumulated some weight, and some prosperity. He has a fiancée and still continues to investigate cheating spouses.

We are introduced for the first time to the other Jake, Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel), a real estate broker who has hired Jake Gittes to help him set up a sting operation. The operation is to catch Berman’s adulterous wife Kitty (Meg Tilly) in the act.

The initiative ends in disaster when Berman, under the duress of an unimpeded rage, storms into the room where the lovers are enjoying their secret tryst and guns down his wife’s lover.

Bodine’s widow, Lillian (Madeleine Stowe), later comes to Gillis’s office, accuses Gillis of being Berman’s accomplice in the murder of her husband, and threatens to sue him for damages. Jake later meets Cotton Weinberger (Eli Wallach), a lawyer that Berman has hired for his own defense.

Gittes then discovers that according to the contractual agreement between Berman and Bodine, the death of one of them would entitle the other to all the assets and revenues from the business. This would mean that Berman would now be the sole beneficiary of the real estate business and its proceeds. This fact would imply that Berman had a motive to kill Bodine that went above and beyond the rage he felt for Bodine over the adulterous relationship.

It could well mean that Gittes could be convicted as an accomplice in the murder of Bodine. When Gittes confronts Berman with these details, he is shocked that Berman seems unperturbed. Even more oddly, Berman is protective of his cheating wife and warns Gittes not to involve her in any way.

As Gittes listens to the recordings from the sting, two concerns arise. The first is that it seems likely that Berman had a verbal confrontation with Bodine moments before shooting him. Secondly, while Bodine is enjoying his tryst with Kitty, he tells her that a Katherine Mulwray could give Berman trouble.

Katherine Mulwray is the daughter of the late Evelyn Mulwray, a former lover of Gittes. Gittes learns that Berman and Bodine had bought land from her, land that she had inherited from her late grandfather, Noah Cross. In the past decades, land areas across the San Fernando Valley that were once orchards were now sites for oil rigs. Gittes learns that Earl Rawley, a powerful oil tycoon in the region, was illegally drilling oil in the land that Katherine had sold Mulwray. Further, Katherine’s name was deliberately concealed in the contractual documents to ensure that her continuing rights to minerals mined in the land stayed secret.

Soon Gittes is violently roughed up by Mickey Nice (Rubén Blades) and his strong-arm sidekick, who demand that Gittes hands them the tapes. There is another fly in the ointment. Lt. Loach (David Keith), whose father had a prior history with Gittes, is doing all he can to incarcerate the latter.

Gittes acquires photos that imply that Berman too is having an affair of his own. However, as the plot moves further, Gittes would come to the realization that he has misread the entire situation, as more facts emerge to the limelight. The climactic scene involves yet another unexpected confrontation between the two Jakes, Berman and Gittes, and comes just before an explosive end. One almost feels that destiny had a hand in putting both Jakes in their respective predicaments.

‘The Two Jakes’ is paradoxical, in that it is a ‘violent tale of love’. Chinatown is a tale of how insatiable greed, in powerful hands, can lead to unimaginable evil deeds. The consequences of those evil deeds continue to permeate the storyline of ‘The Two Jakes’. However, it is love that brings closure to this evil from the past. This love is not the benevolent kind. It is the kind that would make one cross the line to commit despicable acts. Such acts will also have their deadly consequences.

‘The Two Jakes’ is an absorbing experience, with riveting performances from its stellar cast. Harvey Keitel delivers a powerful performance as Jake Berman, a fitting antagonist to Jack Nicholson’s Jake Gittes. Do not miss this overlooked neo-noir gem.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Jakes