Chinatown

R

Now Playing

2 hr. 11 min.

Crime

Drama

List

98%

142 Reviews

Tomatometer

93%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

When Los Angeles private eye J.J. "Jake" Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is hired by Evelyn Mulwray to investigate her husband's activities, he believes it's a routine infidelity case. Jake's investigation soon becomes anything but routine when he meets the real Mrs. Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) and realizes he was hired by an imposter. Mr. Mulwray's sudden death sets Gittes on a tangled trail of corruption, deceit and sinister family secrets as Evelyn's father (John Huston) becomes a suspect in the case.

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Critics Consensus

As bruised and cynical as the decade that produced it, this noir classic benefits from Robert Towne's brilliant screenplay, director Roman Polanski's steady hand, and wonderful performances from Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway.

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William

The best detective movie ever made. A classic.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/28/24

Full Review

Devin B

Don't understand why people think this was a good movie!It was slow as can be through most of it and the ending was just as bad!

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/04/24

Full Review

Hao Ian L

Chinatown drips with a suffocating neo-noir mystery. There's more to the film that just a simple whodunit thriller, it's also a gut-wrenching exploration of the dark underbelly of the Californian dream, exposing the corruption and greed that lies beneath the shimmering facade of sunshine and success.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/29/24

Full Review

John

The best picture of the century

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/21/24

Full Review

Gary B

I watched Chinatown right after seeing LA Confidential. Although both movies are decades old, I hadn't seen either. They are similar films. Both are period pieces about power corruption in Los Angeles. Both have multi-layered plots. Both have good guys whose flaws you don't fully understand until the end. In the past I saw noir as something leaning too hard on cynicism, too contrived. These two movies, and Chinatown especially, show how noir can be used not just to darken, but to enlighten.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/09/24

Full Review

Olson K

Watched in January 2024

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/07/24

Full Review

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Roman Polanski

Director

Jack Nicholson

J. J. (Jake) Gittes

Faye Dunaway

Evelyn Cross Mulwray

John Huston

Noah Cross

Perry Lopez

Lt. Lou Escobar

John Hillerman

Russ Yelburton

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Chinatown: Official Clip - It's Chinatown

1:14

Chinatown: Official Clip - My Sister, My Daughter

2:12

Chinatown: Official Clip - A Respectable Man

2:12

Chinatown: Official Clip - Capable of Anything

1:23

Chinatown: Official Clip - Jake Likes His Nose

1:01

Chinatown: Official Clip - Nosy Fella

0:43

Chinatown: Official Clip - Evelyn's Last Stand

2:12

Chinatown: Official Clip - Find the Girl

1:53

Chinatown: Official Clip - Screwing Like a Chinaman

1:27

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Charles Champlin

Los Angeles Times

In its total recapturing of a past, in its plot, its vivid characterizations, its carefully calculated and accelerating pace, its whole demonstration of a medium mastered, Chinatown reminds you again that motion pictures are larger, not smaller than life.

Mar 8, 2024

Full Review

Penelope Gilliatt

New Yorker

The film, set in the thirties, from a script by Robert Towne, is wickedly skillful, funny, and socially alert.

Mar 8, 2024

Full Review

Rex Reed

New York Daily News

It is so big and so thrilling and so entertaining that years from now, when we look back on the really important films of the 1970s, Chinatown is likely to be one of the most fondly remembered.

Mar 8, 2024

Full Review

Charles Johnson

Sacramento Bee

The miracle of the picture is that the tale itself, composed of so many familiar elements -- and I mean 30-years-of-moviegoing familiar -- is grippingly convincing throughout. It is like going to your first movies all over again.

Mar 8, 2024

Full Review

Dave Billington

Montreal Gazette

You are slowly drawn deep into the director's trap before he springs his surprises. It's a bit like strolling through a beautiful field of flowers and suddenly being told not to move another step because you are in the middle of a minefield.

Mar 8, 2024

Full Review

Rosalyn Drexler

Vogue

A tremendously interesting movie to watch and to listen to. Roman Polanski, who directed, dredges up the dark slimy things that float beneath a sunlit surface.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 8, 2024

Full Review

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Synopsis

When Los Angeles private eye J.J. "Jake" Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is hired by Evelyn Mulwray to investigate her husband's activities, he believes it's a routine infidelity case. Jake's investigation soon becomes anything but routine when he meets the real Mrs. Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) and realizes he was hired by an imposter. Mr. Mulwray's sudden death sets Gittes on a tangled trail of corruption, deceit and sinister family secrets as Evelyn's father (John Huston) becomes a suspect in the case.

Director: Roman Polanski
Screenwriter: Robert Towne, Roman Polanski
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 20, 1974, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2013
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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