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Two Jakes (The)
R1 - America - Paramount Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak and Stevie McCleary (23rd November 2007). |
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The Film
 "The Two Jakes" is the film noir follow-up to the acclaimed "Chinatown" (1974). Directed by Jack Nicholson, (who also reprises his role as private eye Jake Gittes) and set in real time about 16 years later, we find ourselves back in earthquake-happy Los Angeles with even more deception and drama than before. It isn't long before Gittes finds himself on the wrong side of every single person all over again... but like his own narration states; 'in a town full of lepers he's the one with the most fingers'. With his matrimonial investigation service prospering more than ever Gittes is hired by a Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel) to do surveillance and, more importantly as things work out, make a wire recording as Berman confronts his wife in the middle of her adultery. With Gittes and his crew listening in the next room over in the motel, things go sour as Berman is suddenly heard to flip into a rage, pulling a gun and shooting "the other man"...the man who turns out to be Berman's business partner Mark Bodine! (John Hackett) Things get weirder as the police get involved, as well as the wives of both men. But when a name from Jake's past (i.e. the first film) is on the wire recording that everyone is now after...Jake is now convinced that something strange is going down. It goes from bad to worse when Jake is presented with a choice by Mrs. Bodine's attorney:either help prove that Berman premeditated his killing of Bodine (so that his widow can take the enormously profitable real estate business from Berman) or be sued for withholding evidence and ruined financially. But with so many questions about the situation he's found himself in, what can Jake do? He'll do what he does best...investigate. Then things get worse. Now, "Chinatown" is usually referred to as being a classic by its many fans and film critics alike. "The Two Jakes" however, not so much. Its many flaws have been savaged by those same people. Now for me, while I enjoyed "Chinatown", I didn't find it as engrossing and original as people claimed. In fact the claim of 'originality' is ridiculous considering it was a film that was a love letter to a genre that has a total of about five potential storylines in any given situation. The plot of "Chinatown" for the most part, including all its twists and turns, is easily worked out within the first half hour. How does its follower, written again by Robert Towne, hold up under the light? I had the plot mapped out just before Harvey Keitel shot his business partner. That was in the first 3 minutes. I then had to wait out the next 137 minutes of the film for the characters to catch up to me. When they introduced the secondary plot of the name from Jake's past, I had that figured out too. Surely one has to believe, given the talent involved, that all this was made obvious on purpose for some reason...but fans who claim the story is a rollicking mystery just makes me wonder. As it is I didn't enjoy the lack of forward momentum when you're just waiting for the penny to drop for the characters- who appear to need a boatload of pennies dropped on their doorstep in order to even start in the right direction. Then, as they finally work it out, the dramatic music swells as if it's been a huge revelation to everyone concerned. It's disappointing because a great deal of the script is quite riveting with many layers to characters' action and thought processes. But it fails again when it turns some of the scenes with the most potential down a very odd road- the strange seduction between Gittes and Mrs. Bodine (Madeleine Stowe) where Gittes tells her to 'get that ass up in the air' is a prime example. When relating that scene to someone else the next day, they were laughing it up, whereas I still had a sense of puzzlement at what had transpired in the film and in the writer's head. The film is casually paced, which is at times a detriment to the narrative, taking extensive time to reach any resolutions. You get the sense the characters have all the time in the world, while the viewer may feel themselves aging quite rapidly while watching. The cast do a good job for the most part, putting in some really nice performances at times (with a ton of subtle stuff used in their characterization that you only can catch on repeated viewings, or if you guess all the twists early on) but during the third act things seem to lose their resonance. All in all, while definitely above decent it is still far to laidback for the world that we are supposed to buy them living in. In the end, it is difficult to properly explain what "The Two Jakes" is like to watch...it feels more like a much later chapter in an autobiography than a sequel in the classical sense. It definitely has merit and is likeable for many reasons while being hindered by a small part of everything they chose to do. Check it out if you enjoyed "Chinatown" and want to watch another story with those characters. Otherwise you can easily live without it, especially if you haven't seen the first one.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1, this anamorphic transfer does a fine job of presenting this film. It's not as old as "Chinatown" so I suppose materials were in better shape. The image is fairly sharp with only a handful of shots appearing a bit soft. Grain is light and non-intrusive, and colors appear bold although skin tones sometimes verge on the orange hues occasionally. The image is largely clean and I could not spot any major compression related issues, edge-enhancement or other flaws. It's a decent enough transfer that could possibly have been better but for a catalogue title it will do for now.
Audio
Five audio tracks are included in English Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround, French Dolby Digital 2.0 surround, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 surround and Portuguese Dolby Digital 1.0 mono. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its 5.1 track, this appears to be an up-mixed track created from the original 2.0 surround track (which is on this release). The film is largely dialogue driven and as a result the majority of the sound is center focused with minor ambient sound and score utilizing the surround channels. The overall track lacks punch and depth but for a film such as this it doesn't really need a flashy soundtrack. Optional subtitles are included in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Extras
Paramount has released this new 'Special Collector's Edition' with only a few extras that include a single featurette and a theatrical trailer. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up is the only substantial extra on this release a featurette entitled "Jack on Jake" which runs for 18 minutes 20 seconds. For a short clip this interview with director and star Jack Nicholson is a riveting exercise in candid conversation as he talks about the production history and the delays and problems that it faced, he also comments on directing the picture as well as acting in it and comments on the critical reaction to the film which wasn't as overwhelmingly positive as "Chinatown". This clip may not be a full-fledge making-of but it's worth a look for fans of the film. Rounding out the extras is the film's original theatrical trailer which runs for 3 minutes 9 seconds.
Overall
For a 'Special Collector's Edition' I was expecting more on the extras front, however if you don't already own it and must have this release then this is the edition of choice.
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