Don't get me wrong, I love this film..
But it seems like Jack plays Gittes a little dumber in this sequel, maybe because of stress? For example, the whole "What's this?" about the grenade, or lighting up a cigarette near oil, getting lost in conversation.
At any rate, he still put on an excellent performance.
"Please allow me to introduce myself.. I'm a man of wealth and taste."share
I don't really think of him as dumb or dim-witted. If I recall correctly wasn't this after he got his "bell rung" from the gas explosion? Not to mention, he's always being lied to and cases constantly taking turns to the more bizarre. He's being paid to do one thing, but being pulled deeper into other plots and unwittingly being used as a pawn at the same time. It's supposed to be disorienting in these movies. If he was some genius and saw every plot turn before it happened that would be boring and unrealistic.
On another note...that grenade trick was sorta dumb...I mean if the guy shot him, Jake would drop the grenade and all 3 of them would be blown up...but it wasn't enough to ruin the movie. I thought he should have just made a 2nd copy of the tape..one as a decoy to get these thugs off his back, the other for evidence.
What's funny about all these responses is that Jake Gittes much dumber in Chinatown than in The Two Jakes.
Most people can't see that because they're so desperate to romanticize a well-dressed detective.