Apparently there was a lot of grief in getting this movie made and onto the big screen. Because of this, and because of the stature of its prequel, Chinatown, this was a much anticipated release. The rumors would circulate, then drift away, only to return again. This extended buzz may well have contributed to the critics' tepid reception.

Watching Chinatown then immediately watching The Two Jakes is a big mistake. Time has proven Chinatown to be one of the best movies ever made, and possibly the best L.A. movie ever. So it's really not fair to hold any movie in comparison. But seeing as The Two Jakes is a continuation of the same lives, you have to.

As a sequel to Chinatown, and with the extended hype, The Two Jakes was a huge disappointment. As a standalone movie, it views like a really good TV movie. One of my favorite parts of Chinatown is the opening credits: the design, the pace, the winsome music all put you straight into the period in which the movie takes place. The Two Jakes ignores that important opening completely. Instead, we get a cynical voice-over to establish the time frame. Big difference!

The Good: The story rocks. It contains all the elements of the original: a classic noir gumshoe, J.J. Gittes, just a bit more cynical but still a romantic; a mysterious femme fatale, sublimely played by Meg Tilly; an interweaving of LA History - the oil boom, the post-war real estate development of the San Fernando Valley, the natural gas problems around the La Brea Tar Pits; and most importantly, a good mystery.

You get to revisit the lives of the Chinatown characters - James Hong's Khan, Joe Perry's Lt. Escobar - and you get answers to the questions that Chinatown left us with... what happened after that amazing ending?

And a tip of the fedora to Mickey Cohen - "Mickey Nice" - by a wonderfully menacing Ruben Blades.

There's several cinematically great shots, but because the cinematography isn't as effortless as the original, they also serve to point up the unevenness of the look of the movie as a whole.

The Bad: The pace is really uneven. This, combined with Jack Nicholson seeming to get really tired over the course of a couple of days (my suspicion - due to the stress of producing and directing the extended filming), makes this movie drag. Madeleine Stowe rings false in her role - she doesn't seem to be on the same page as the rest of the cast. The silly special effects of Jake losing and regaining conciousness are really jarring.

Overall, it's not really a bad movie, it's a great thing for those afternoons when Chinatown just isn't enough for your Saturday matinee. In fact, our advice would be to watch The Two Jakes first, and then Chinatown. That's what we usually end up doing anyway, just to get the proper taste back in our mouths.

"In this town I'm the leper with the most fingers."

reviewed by Tim