So you wanna do a follow-up to a great movie, huh? Jack Nicholson takes on directing as well as acting duties here for the story that takes place about 10 years later. Despite doing well for himself, private investigator Jake Gittes is still haunted by the events with Evelyn Mulwray a decade prior.
Sunny California, Jake has a nicer office, snazzy staff and better clientele, but still seems to get caught up in the shit. His latest case, for another Jake (played by Harvey Keitel), gets him involved in what seems like a basic marital affair shenanigans but then shit goes sideways and Jake 1 is left holding the shitbag while Jake 2 goes slick as snot and tiretracks on backs are laid. It would be a spoiler to say the butler did it, but unfortunately there’s not really a butler here to blame. Too bad, would have ended this one a lot quicker.
This is no Chinatown. I can see how Nicholson would like to continue the character but this is just a little too plodding and, well, not very intriguing. I wanted to like it more. Nicholson does a good enough job in the role but it just pales in comparison to the original. The opening music is lame. The voiceover is lame. The pacing is lame. Looks ok though I guess. Didn’t remember this “sequel” really existed until not too long ago. I kinda wish it had stayed that way. While trying to capture the scope of the previous movie, this one is too much of copy than an original, relying too much on repetitive plot points while not presenting much for new fuckeries to even care about.
