The Two Jakes

The Two Jakes is a 1990 American neo-noir[4] 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, David Keith, Rubén Blades, Tracey Walter and Eli Wallach. Reprising their roles from Chinatown are Joe Mantell, Perry Lopez, James Hong, and, in a brief voice-over, Faye Dunaway. The character of Katherine Mulwray returns as well, played by Tilly. The musical score for the film is by Van Dyke Parks, who also appears as a prosecuting attorney. The screenplay is by Robert Towne, whose script for Chinatown won an Academy Award.

The Two Jakes
Theatrical release poster by Robert Rodriguez[1]
Directed byJack Nicholson
Produced by
Written byRobert Towne
Starring
Music byVan Dyke Parks
CinematographyVilmos Zsigmond
Edited byAnne Goursaud
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • August 10, 1990 (1990-08-10)
Running time
138 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million[2]
Box office$10 million[3]

The Two Jakes faced a troubled production, and went through several years of development hell. Various different actors were attached at several points, including Joe Pesci and Roy Scheider, with screenwriter Towne also at one point set to direct and producer Evans set to co-star. Filming finally took place with Nicholson at the helm, filming around Los Angeles in the early summer of 1989.

The film was released by Paramount Pictures on August 10, 1990. The film received mixed reviews and was not a box office success, and plans for a third film about J. J. Gittes, with him near the end of his life, were abandoned.

Plot

In Los Angeles in 1948, Julius "Jake" Berman hires private investigator J. J. "Jake" Gittes to catch his wife, Kitty, in the act of committing adultery. During the sting, Berman kills his love rival, Mark Bodine, who happens to be his business partner in a real estate development company. Gittes, not having known this, suddenly finds himself under scrutiny for his role in the possible crime, all of which centers around a wire recording that captured the illicit love meeting, the confrontation, and the killing of Bodine. It calls into question if Berman knew and killed his partner to wrest control of the partnership, making it murder, or was an act of jealousy, which may qualify as "temporary insanity" and be permitted as a defense to a charge of murder.

Gittes must convince LAPD captain Escobar that he should not be charged as an accomplice. Oddly, Berman seems unconcerned with the possibility that he may be accused of murder. Gittes has the recording, which Berman's attorney, Cotton Weinberger, and mobster friend Mickey Nice, both want, locked in a safe in his office in L.A., which is being rocked by earthquakes. Berman's housing development in the Valley also is experiencing seismic activities. Gittes is nearly killed in a gas explosion, waking to find Berman and wife, Kitty, standing over him.

Gittes has a confrontation, and later a sexual encounter, with Lilian Bodine, the dead man's angry widow. He is presented with proof that Earl Rawley, a wealthy and ruthless oil man, may be drilling under the Bodine and Berman development, though Rawley has denied it. This leads to a need to determine who owns the mineral rights to the land. Gittes discovers that the rights are owned by one Katherine Mulwray, daughter of Evelyn Mulwray, his love interest from eleven years prior. He also discovers that the deed transfers were executed in such a way as to attempt to hide Katherine Mulwray's prior ownership and continued claim of the mineral rights. Furthermore, he also discovers that Noah Cross had already died and Katherine had escaped from his grasp.

Gittes operatives have seen Berman in the company of a blond woman along with Mickey, and a bodyguard. With a bit of sleuthing Gittes determines that the woman is an oncologist and is treating Berman for cancer somewhere below the waist. Gittes confronts Berman with this knowledge and gets a full confession. Along the way, Gittes discovers that Berman is not going to survive and the entire set-up was to ensure that Kitty was protected once he died.

In order to get Kitty to talk to him, Gittes must prove that Berman set out to kill his partner. Once accomplished, Kitty agrees to meet Gittes and tell him what she knows about Berman. In the process of discussing Berman's possible motivations, mineral rights, and the possible whereabouts of Katherine, it is revealed that Kitty and Katherine are the same person. Kitty had never suspected that her husband is dying.

In order to prove premeditation, passion, and perhaps even connections to a woman long missing, seemingly everyone wants the recording, which Gittes refuses to give up until the day of the inquest. Somehow, Gittes edits the recording, leaving Katherine's name chopped out of the dialog, shooting, and aftermath of Bodine's murder. This makes the inquest a short, satisfying meeting where the judge has no reason to suspect murder, and Berman is now free of criminal charges. Confronted with the knowledge Gittes has of his terminal illness, Berman, knowing the model house he is in is filled with natural gas, convinces Gittes and Mickey to leave him alone in the house so he can "have a smoke." He doesn't want an autopsy to interfere with Kitty's inheritance. As they drive off, the house explodes.

The story ends with Kitty and Gittes in his office. They speak of regrets, and Kitty kisses Gittes, who rejects her advances, saying "That's your problem, kid. You don't know who you're kidding." She leaves, telling him to "Think of me from time to time". Gittes tells her "It never goes away."

Cast

Production

Made 16 years after its famous predecessor, The Two Jakes had a very troubled production, and went through several iterations. Producer Robert Evans had the rights to a Chinatown sequel, and in 1976 had negotiated for Jack Nicholson to reprise his role and Dustin Hoffman to act alongside him; that version eventually fell through.[5] Screenwriter Robert Towne finished the script for The Two Jakes in 1984 and was set to direct (original director Roman Polanski had fled the States due to his guilty plea of unlawful sex with a minor and thus would be unable to return), but he objected to Evans' wish to act in the film in the Jake Berman role. Nicholson, Evans, and Towne had formed their own production company to make the film independently, and entered into a distribution deal with Paramount Pictures. The trio agreed to not take up-front salaries, and instead share in the film's profits. Paramount greenlit a $12-13 million budget, and capped its distribution fee at $6 million.

In April 1985, Kelly McGillis, Cathy Moriarty, Dennis Hopper, Joe Pesci, and Harvey Keitel had all been cast, ready to shoot the film that month.[6] The following month, the sets had been built and filming was ready to begin, but Towne's lack of confidence in Evans' acting ability exploded into a final argument when Evans objected to having to get a 1940s-style haircut (mostly due to recent plastic surgery scars that would be visible). Filming was scheduled to begin four days after the confrontation, with a witness telling Vanity Fair: "In the morning, nothing happened. They said the weather was wrong. But you could tell the plug had been pulled."[6] On top of existing problems between Nicholson, Towne, and Evans, grievances were filed by 120 crew members who had not been paid (over $500,000 from Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild of America members, and $1.5 million from suppliers of sets, props, costumes, and sound stages), and the project was officially postponed indefinitely.[5]

Because the film hadn't been budgeted normally due to the initial Evans-Towne-Nicholson plan, Towne approached producer Dino De Laurentiis to help finance. McGillis remained in the cast, with Harrison Ford set to take over as Jake Gittes and Roy Scheider attached to play the other Jake, with a tentative start date of mid-1986. At one point the original film's star John Huston was rumored to be brought in as director, although Towne denied the claim. However the constant shuffling worried Paramount, who withdrew from the distribution deal out of nervousness, eventually taking a $4 million loss on the film.[7] The project was discontinued until the late 1980s when Nicholson took on the responsibility of directing and also rewrote parts of Towne's script (which "was really only about 80% ready").[8] Filming began in Los Angeles on April 18, 1989, lasting through July 26.[5] Numerous scenes had to be reshot after initial filming had wrapped, causing the release date to get pushed from Christmas 1989 to its August 1990 date, however Nicholson insisted that it came in "perfectly on schedule and perfectly on budget" (the final cost was about $25 million).[2] The film ended up in a personal fallout between Nicholson, Towne, and Evans, with Towne saying in 1998 that he hadn't spoken to Nicholson in over ten years, and Evans checking into a hospital for mental health and substance abuse issues.[6]

Reception

Box office

Unlike its predecessor, the film was not a box-office success.[9][10] It made $3.7 million from 1,206 theaters in its first weekend, finishing in seventh, then $1.8 million and $1.9 million in its second and third weekends, finishing 16th both times; it ended its theatrical run with $10 million at the box office, nearly a third less than the original.[3]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 65% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 5.87/10.[11] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[13]

Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, writing that "every scene falls into place like clockwork [...] exquisite".[14] Vincent Canby, writing for The New York Times, called it "an enjoyable if clunky movie".[15] Variety called the film "a jumbled, obtuse yet not entirely unsatisfying follow-up to Chinatown".[16] Desson Howe, for The Washington Post, wrote 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".[17]

Cancelled sequel

Screenwriter Robert Towne originally planned a trilogy involving private investigator J.J. Gittes. According to Nicholson, the third film, titled Gittes vs. Gittes, was "meant to be set in 1968 when no-fault divorce went into effect in California."[6] However, after The Two Jakes was a commercial failure, plans for a third film were scrapped.[18]

References
  1. https://www.filmonpaper.com/posters/the-two-jakes-one-sheet-usa/
  2. Jack Mathews (August 5, 1990). "Jake Laid-Back". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  3. "The Two Jakes (1990)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  4. Silver, Alain; Ward, Elizabeth, eds. (1992). Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (3rd., rev. and expanded. ed.). Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-479-5.
  5. "Catalog - The Two Jakes". American Film Institute. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  6. Falk, Ben (November 5, 2007). "The crazy story behind the making of 'Chinatown' sequel 'The Two Jakes'". Yahoo! News. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  7. Warren, James (October 30, 1985). "In Vanity Fair: The Saga of Why a 'Chinatown' Sequel Never Got Made". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  8. Lim, =Dennis (November 5, 2007). "Some respect for 'The Two Jakes'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  9. Broeske, Pat H. (August 13, 1990). "The Two Jakes Fails to Do Land-Office Business". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  10. Hunt, Dennis (March 14, 1991). "VIDEO RENTALS : Roberts Shows Her Box-Office Clout". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  11. "The Two Jakes". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  12. "The Two Jakes (1990)". Metacritic. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  13. "Find CinemaScore" (Type "Two Jakes" in the search box). CinemaScore. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  14. Ebert, Roger (August 10, 1990). "The Two Jakes". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  15. Canby, Vincent (August 10, 1990). "A Jake Gittes Who's Older (And Wider)". The New York Times. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  16. "The Two Jakes". Variety. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  17. Howe, Desson (August 10, 1990). "The Two Jakes". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  18. Horowitz, Josh (November 5, 2007). "Jack Nicholson Talks! In Rare Interview, Actor Reveals Details of Never-Shot 'Chinatown' Sequel". MTV News.
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