Word: chinatown
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...sequel to Chinatown (released 16 years ago), eight years in the making -- or more accurately, in the preproduction squabbling, with its release twice delayed in the past year -- The Two Jakes redefines the cliche "long awaited." It also redefines "disappointing," and possibly "excruciating" as well...
...Chinatown's powerful, bewildering plot came to a conclusion with Gittes failing to protect his lover Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) and her daughter/sister Katherine (Belinda Palmer) from corrupt millionare Noah Cross (John Huston). Katherine was the teenage product of the incestuous union of Evelyn and Cross, who was her father. While attempting to drive away from her pursuers, police working for Cross accidentally shot Evelyn Mulwray in the head. The absolutely hysterical Katherine was pulled from the car as Gittes, stunned by the loss of the woman he loved, looked on helplessly...
...just as in Chinatown, nothing is as straightforward as it seems. When Berman arrives, he immediately shoots and kills Kitty's lover, who turns out to be his business partner. Gittes is promplty sued by Berman's partner's wife, Mrs. Bodine (Madeline Stowe), who claims that he was negligent in allowing her husband to be killed. Attempting to exonerate himself, Gittes analyzes the wiretap he made and is amazed to hear the name Katherine Mulwray mentioned...
...Chinatown, Gittes, normally able to go about his business of prying into people's private lives wihout any compunction, becomes a man possessed after falling in love with Evelyn Mulwray. Similarly, Gittes, haunted by his love for Evelyn and his inability to grant her last wish--that her daughter be protected and taken care of--becomes consumed with finding Katherine in The Two Jakes...
...truly great film, it is an insightful commentary on the human condition. The power of the past, and how the commitments made their carry a timeless moral weight, is the subject of the film's intelligent inquiry. Any viewer, especially one with a thoughtful appreciation of the complexities of Chinatown, cannot help but be impressed with Nicholson's The Two Jakes...