The Two Jakes

R

Released Aug 10, 1990

2h 17m

Mystery & Thriller

List

63%

30 Reviews

Tomatometer

39%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Private investigator and war veteran Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is hired by real estate developer Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel) for some run-of-the-mill matrimonial work. After Berman shoots his wife's lover, who happens to be his own business partner, Gittes is drawn into a web of conspiracy and deceit involving the oil reserves beneath Los Angeles. While investigating, Gittes hears a voice from his past that causes him to revisit a traumatic case in Chinatown.

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Nik75 J

It's a good effort with some fine acting by Nicholson. The plot is actually easy to follow if you pay attention and has some interesting twists. It's a good sequel and well worth watching.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/10/24

Full Review

Alec B

Yeah it pales in comparison to "Chinatown" but everyone involved here seems to know that was inevitable. At its best "The Two Jakes" plays like a lengthy epilogue reflecting on the previous movie's themes and surviving characters.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/10/24

Full Review

C

God bless Jack Nicholson. But this was not one of his best movies, and could have been better under a different director. This movie suffered under a bad script and acting. The plot was confusing. This movie lacked star power and felt like a tv show. The only redeeming part of the movie was the house blowing up scene near the end. Give that poor house an Academy Award. Not even Harvey Keitel could save this flop. I wanted this movie to be better, but it was a sad disappointment. Cheers.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/19/23

Full Review

sri k

It was a great performance as usual by Jack Nicholson but the plot was not portrayed well. Disappointing compared to Chinatown, which to be fair we shouldn't even compare to since there's no connection to it barely.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It’s not Chinatown but who said it had to be ? There should have been many movies with Nicholson as this character.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Years after the iconic critically acclaimed film Chinatown was released, came along the sequel called The Two Jakes. The story is about Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) being hired to catch a wife committing adultery but things go haywire on how things went down. The film is obviously not as good as Chinatown but it's still decent. The acting from Jack Nicholson and Madeleine Stowe are respectable. The writing from Oscar winner Robert Towne is decent but not as good as he was with Chinatown (probably because I hoped there were more twists in The Two Jakes). While The Two Jakes doesn't have the charm of Chinatown, this is still an adequate film as we get a perspective about the two Jakes; Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) and Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel) and how they both are suffering from lost love with their own women. The Two Jakes is a neo-noir mystery love film.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

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Jack Nicholson

Director

Jack Nicholson

Jake Gittes

Harvey Keitel

Julius 'Jake' Berman

Meg Tilly

Kitty Berman

Madeleine Stowe

Lillian Bodine

Eli Wallach

Cotton Weinberger

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The Two Jakes: Official Clip - The Name of the Game is Oil

2:08

The Two Jakes: Official Clip - How Could You, Kitty?

2:11

The Two Jakes: Official Clip - One Last Smoke

2:11

The Two Jakes: Official Clip - Suck It

2:08

The Two Jakes: Official Clip - Don't Make Me Do It

2:06

The Two Jakes: Official Clip - Who is Kitty Berman?

2:12

The Two Jakes: Official Clip - The Wife of the Guy that Jake Berman Shot

1:57

The Two Jakes: Official Clip - The Two Jakes

2:08

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Stephen Amidon

Financial Times

It is a fundamentally strong story, though it lacks the ingenious nuances and twists of Towne's earlier effort.

Aug 18, 2021

Full Review

Geoff Brown

Times (UK)

As a thriller, The Two Jakes proves impossible to follow; as an exercise in retro style, it glows with sullen beauty. Forties suits, ties, two-tone shoes: everything is in place, bathed in hard-edged gloom.

Aug 18, 2021

Full Review

Derek Malcolm

Guardian

In short, The Two Jakes, combining the best of the old and the best of the new, is one helluva good movie.

Aug 18, 2021

Full Review

Alistair Lawrence

Common Sense Media

But compared to Chinatown and other private investigator movies that have endured down the years, you'd struggle to pick it out of a line-up.

Feb 6, 2024

Full Review

Tim Brayton

Alternate Ending

This simply isn't a very well-made thing, and it's not coming from any genuinely inspired place.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 9, 2023

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

The Two Jakes is not bad... when it's good, it's very good. [Full review in Spanish]

Dec 2, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

Private investigator and war veteran Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is hired by real estate developer Jake Berman (Harvey Keitel) for some run-of-the-mill matrimonial work. After Berman shoots his wife's lover, who happens to be his own business partner, Gittes is drawn into a web of conspiracy and deceit involving the oil reserves beneath Los Angeles. While investigating, Gittes hears a voice from his past that causes him to revisit a traumatic case in Chinatown.

Director: Jack Nicholson
Screenwriter: Robert Towne
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures, 88 Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 10, 1990, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $9.4M
Runtime: 2h 17m
Sound Mix: Surround, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track

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