Chinatown

SETTING: 1937 Los Angeles

PLOT: Jake Gittes is a P.I. who has been hired by a woman to find out where he spends his late nights. Jake is drawn into corruption and murder.

RATING: R, DRAMA, MYSTERY, 

QUOTES: [first lines]
-Jake Gittes: All right, Curly. Enoughs enough. You can't eat the Venetian blinds. I just had them installed on Wednesday.

-Jake Gittes: Hello, Claude. Where'd you get the midget?

-[last lines]
Walsh: Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.

THOUGHTS: Nicholson in the character of Jake Gittes was prophetic. In my opinion there probably would have been no one better for the part. Mrs Mulwray played by Faye Dunaway was a good choice, I personally would liked to see someone who has a little more of a dramatic side to them, say Sophia Loren? The plot was not to much of a thriller but as mystery goes it was amiable. the reoccurring theme of the water issue in the L.A. valley is quite down to earth and believable.

SYNOPSIS: JJ 'Jake' Gittes is a private detective who seems to specialize in matrimonial cases. He is hired by Evelyn Mulwray when she suspects her husband Hollis, builder of the city's water supply system, of having an affair. Gittes does what he does best and photographs him with a young girl but in the ensuing scandal, it seems he was hired by an impersonator and not the real Mrs. Mulwray. When Mr. Mulwray is found dead, Jake is plunged into a complex web of deceit involving murder, incest and municipal corruption all related to the city's water supply.

CONCLUSION: I must say Roman Polanski did quite a good job here keeping everything grey, everyone had a dark side to them. Not necessarily one my favorites, but Jack sure makes the show. This film is a great one time watcher, with a possible second viewing with friends. Not quite a library must have. For comparison try the Black Dahlia, it was a little more intense, albeit gory.

MY RATING: 3 out of 5, Jack as mentioned above is great! Faye is good. the plot was not lackluster yet came about slowly.

CHICAGO SUN TIMES (EBERT): 4 out of 5, Roman Polanski's "Chinatown" is not only a great entertainment, but something more, something I would have thought almost impossible: It's a 1940s private-eye movie that doesn't depend on nostalgia or camp for its effect, but works because of the enduring strength of the genre itself.