The Two Jakes (1990)

Director:

Jack Nicholson

Writers (WGA):

Robert Towne (characters)
Robert Towne (written by)

Release Date:

10 August 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

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

Plot:

The sequel to Chinatown (1974) finds Jake Gittes investigating adultery and murder... and the money that comes from oil.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Adultery | Orange Grove | Business Partner | Sequel

Cast

Jack Nicholson	...	J.J. 'Jake' Gittes
Harvey Keitel	...	Julius 'Jake' Berman
Meg Tilly	...	Kitty Berman
Madeleine Stowe	...	Lillian Bodine
Eli Wallach	...	Cotton Weinberger
Rubén Blades	...	Michael 'Mickey Nice' Weisskopf
Frederic Forrest	...	Chuck Newty
David Keith	...	Det. Lt. Loach
Richard Farnsworth	...	Earl Rawley
Tracey Walter	...	Tyrone Otley
Joe Mantell	...	Lawrence Walsh
James Hong	...	Kahn
Perry Lopez	...	Captain Lou Escobar
Jeff Morris	...	Ralph Tilton
Rebecca Broussard	...	Gladys
Paul A. DiCocco Jr.	...	Liberty Levine
John Hackett	...	Mark Bodine
Rosie Vela	...	Linda
Allan Warnick	...	Manfred P. Rippey
Susan Forristal	...	Delores
Will Tynan	...	Judge Alexander K. Dettmer
Van Dyke Parks	...	Francis Hannah
William Duffy	...	Desk Sergeant
Sue Carlton	...	Mattie Rawley
Don McGovern	...	Bartender
Luana Anders	...	Florist
Dean Hill	...	Cop with Parrot
Pia Grønning	...	Dr. Elsa Branchauer
John Herman Shaner	...	Saul
Michael Shaner	...	Benny
Lee Weaver	...	Caddy #1
Malek Abdul-Mansour	...	Caddy #2
Kenneth Cervi	...	Prowler (as Ken Cervi)
Annie Marshall	...	Client with Dog
Ian Thorpe	...	Errol Flynn Look-alike
Collette Northrop	...	Cigarette Hat Check Girl
Patricia Durham	...	Clarissa
Randi Ingerman	...	Lana
Joy Wayman	...	Lady Asleep at Clinic
Bob George	...	Bar Maitre D'
Suzanne Mitchell	...	The Redhead
Alan Chaffin	...	Bar Manager
Wyn Costello	...	Black-Eye Woman
Lisa Croisette	...	Laura Teal, Actress at Max Factor (as Lisa Regina Croisette)
Jessica Z. Diamond	...	Receptionist
Scott Flynn	...	Golf Advisor
Benard Ihgner	...	Singer at Green Parrot
Earl Palmer	...	Green Parrot Band
Simeon Pillich	...	Green Parrot Band
Herman Riley	...	Green Parrot Band
Faye Dunaway	...	Evelyn Mulwray (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paulie DiCocco	...	Liberty Levine (uncredited)
James Ent	...	Bailiff #2 (uncredited)
Moreen Littrell	...	Military Wife (uncredited)
Tereza Rizzardi	...	Woman at Max Factor (uncredited)
Tom Waits	...	Plainclothes Policeman (uncredited)

Directed by
Jack Nicholson

Writing credits (WGA)
Robert Towne		(characters)
Robert Towne		(written by)

Produced by
R. Blaine Currier	....	associate producer
Robert Evans	....	producer
Alan Finkelstein	....	associate producer
Harold Schneider	....	producer
Jack Nicholson	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Van Dyke Parks

Cinematography by
Vilmos Zsigmond

Film Editing by
Anne Goursaud

Casting by
Terry Liebling

Production Design by
Jeremy Railton
Richard Tom Sawyer		(as Richard Sawyer)

Art Direction by
Richard Schreiber

Set Decoration by
Jerry Wunderlich

Costume Design by
Wayne A. Finkelman

Makeup Department
Ray Sebastian	....	makeup artist
Toni-Ann Walker	....	hair stylist
Brad Wilder	....	makeup artist
Joy Zapata	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Max Stein	....	unit production manager (as Max A. Stein)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Daves	....	first assistant director
Todd Grodnick	....	second second assistant director
Michael Kennedy	....	assistant director
Linda Rockstroh	....	second assistant director
Gail Seely	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Mark Boucher	....	set dresser
Mark Boucher	....	swing gang
Nigel A. Boucher	....	leadman
Emily Ferry	....	property master
Christopher Gilman	....	props
Charles R. Lipscomb	....	lead man
Harold Michelson	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Greg Curda	....	foley mixer
Ken Dufva	....	foley artist
Julia Evershade	....	supervising sound editor
John Hoeren	....	sound effects editor
James Matheny	....	dialogue editor
Bob Newlan	....	sound editor
Art Rochester	....	production sound mixer
Greg P. Russell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Douglas J. Schulman	....	boom operator
Elliot Tyson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Paul C. Warschilka	....	first assistant sound editor
Thomas Whiting	....	supervisng adr editor
David Williams	....	dialogue editor
John Roesch	....	foley artist (uncredited)
Donald C. Rogers	....	technical director of sound (uncredited)
Carolyn Tapp	....	foley recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
David Domeyer	....	special effects
R.J. Hohman	....	special effects assistant
Joe Lombardi	....	special effects coordinator
Paul J. Lombardi	....	supervisor
Michael Roundy	....	special effects technician

Stunts
Ronnie Rondell Jr.	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Albert Lloyd Alexander	....	grip
William D. Barber	....	first assistant camera
Earl L. Clark	....	camera operator
Ray De La Motte	....	camera operator
Jeff Mart	....	Steadicam operator

Editorial Department
Ron Lambert	....	color timer
Jimmy Sandoval	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
J.J. George	....	assistant music editor
Todd Hayen	....	orchestrator
Lennie Niehaus	....	orchestrator
Lonnie Sill	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Paulie DiCocco	....	driver: Harvey Keitel
Shane Greedy	....	production driver
Joel Marrow	....	transportation coordinator
Joseph Sullivan	....	driver

Other crew
Carmen Avila	....	assistant accountant
Joanie Blum	....	script supervisor
Robert L. Dohan	....	assistant location manager
Les Godwin	....	associate location manager
Anthony Goldschmidt	....	title designer
John Hackett	....	stand-in
T.J. Healy II	....	assistant location manager
Jim Jaffe	....	product placement
Andrew Lipschultz	....	unit publicist
Bertram McCann	....	marine coordinator
Jennifer Nicholson	....	assistant to production designers

Production Companies

• 88 Productions
• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1990) (USA) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (1991) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Paramount Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2004) (Argentina) (all media) (re-release)

Special Effects

• Special Effects Unlimited

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes and dollies
• Cinema Research  opticals
• Conway Recording Studios  music recorded at
• Mario's Catering  catering
• Pacific Title  titles
• Reel People Inc.  negative cutting
• Segue Music  music editing
• Unique Movie Cars  picture cars
• Video Image  video playback services
• Warner Hollywood Studios  sound re-recording

Runtime:

138 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 | Norway:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

City Hall - 200 N. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

88 Productions

Trivia:

Dennis Hopper and Joe Pesci were considered for the role of Jake Berman.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: "For Redheads Only" is backwards on the door in the salon when Gittes enters, revealing the use of a mirror image.

Quotes:

Jake Gittes: We're talkin' about oil here, right, Ty?
Tyrone Otley: Obviously. Mr. Rawley believes there's oil under the subdivision. He's endangering hundreds of lives drilling under those homes, with all the seismic activity. He's whipstocking! Someone has got to stop him!
Jake Gittes: Well, I can't do that, Ty. Nobody can. Guys like Rawley don't get arrested; they get streets named after them. In this type of situation, it's best just to leave it alone. Rawley's stealin' from Berman. It's a big thief stealin' from a little thief. Who are we to quarrel?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chinatown: Filming (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Haunted Heart

Just because it's no Chinatown, doesn't make this film bad

The Two Jakes and The Godfather 3 were released in the second half of 1990 and both films proved that sometimes it's best not to tamper with classics. This is not necessarily because sometimes a sequel can't compliment a classic, but because no matter what you do, there's no way to avoid comparing the new versions to the old. And the final chapter of the Godfather trilogy is vastly inferior to the first two. And Two Jakes is vastly inferior to Chinatown. But since Chinatown and the first two Godfathers are among the best films every made, that's a pretty pointless comparison. Just as The Godfather 3 stands on its own as a very sturdy and interesting piece of filmmaking, Two Jakes also works on its own merits. It's confusing, overlong (a full ten minutes more than the original), and never fully gels, but it's also passionate, intelligent filmmaking. Go figure.

In his autobiography, producer Robert Evans refers to Robert Towne's script for Two Jakes as basically only half-finished. It was half-finished when they started shooting, half-finished when they made it half-way through the shoot, and it pretty much feels half-finished in the final product. This is a movie where characters wander in and out and a full two-thirds of the storylines go essentially unresolved. The grand climax of the film (and trust me, I'm not spoiling anything) is an evidentiary hearing, for heavens sakes! And I couldn't really explain the plot if I wanted to, but here's the quick summary: It's fifteen years after Chinatown and Jake Gittes Jack Nicholson) has become older, fatter, and a good deal more bitter. He's now an Investigator respected throughout LA, but he's still haunted by his experiences with the Mulwrays, especially the late Evelyn. The film begins with a jealous husband, Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel), storming into a hotel room and killing his wife's lover, with Jake listening in the next room. Of course, you know the crime probably wasn't entirely about love or lust and that money probably had something to do with it. Money, history, and oil, actually. And it spins in circles from there.

It's easy to notice that the film slacks off at around the half-way point. It's then that you realize just how tight Robert Towne's Chinatown script was. Even at a shred over two hours, every word counts, every gesture, every twist. Two Jakes is flabby in comparison. The dialogue is pleasantly hardboiled and the actors enjoy delivering it, but the resolutions of the various mysteries mostly fall flat. You either see them coming, or don't understand when they arrive. It's to Towne and director Jack Nicholson's credit that the film ends on a number of satisfying grace notes.

Nicholson's direction is almost never the source of the film's flaws. And this is legitimately high praise in a film as twisting and convoluted as this. Of course, he again makes you appreciate the brilliant economy of Roman Polanski's direction of Chinatown, a film with an immeasurable amount of class. Nicholson produces several wonderful moments including a beautiful pull shot from the ocean to a teatime conversation with Kahn (who Chinatown fans will avidly remember). Nicholson and director of photography Vilmos Zsigmond capture a Los Angeles of burnt out dreams, on the brink of overdevelopment and overexpansion. The film has noir stylings but it respectfully looks different from Chinatown.

Nicholson's performance is more a study of what has happened to the actor since Chinatown, rather than what has happened to the character. Because Jack was less of an icon when Chinatown was made, the original Jake Gittes is one of his least iconic performances. By the time he won his Oscar the next year for One Flew Over The Cuckoo's nest Nicholson had already become JACK (in all caps) and he hasn't looked back. In Two Jakes, Jake Gittes has become JACK. There's no getting around it. However, there's also no getting around the fact that Nicholson is a great actor and even if his performances are frequently variations on a theme, it's a pretty super theme.

Two Jakes is peppered with supporting performances of varying degrees of depth. Harvey Keitel has never been better as the second of the two Jakes. His character is emotionally complicated and perhaps the only person in the film (besides Gittes) who gets to go through a character arc. He plays it wonderfully. The femmes fatale in the film, as played by Madeline Stowe and Meg Tilly are less and more complicated than they seem. Ruben Blade, Richard Farnsworth, and Eli Wallach provide capable support when they're given anything to do.

The fact is that like the Godfather 3, if you came upon Two Jakes with a completely open mind, you'd find it a complicated thriller, vastly more substantial than most films of the genre. The fact that it's got its flaws that it'll never compare to Chinatown are the basis for a 7/10 rating.