MovieChat Forums > The Two Jakes (1990) Discussion > what i can't fathom...(spoilers)

what i can't fathom...(spoilers)

posted 14 years ago by does_england_exist
4 replies | jump to latest

this may be nitpicking a bit, but it makes no sense from a writer's standpoint for Jake Berman to think it's a good idea to shoot his partner right in front of his wife. i mean, yeah he had 'good guy' motives for doing it, but wouldn't a concerned, caring husband think "hey, maybe she's already seen enough people get shot to death while she's sitting next to them"...?

getting the blood of someone you care about splattered all over you (TWICE!) has got to have some kind of foreseeable negative effect on a person...right?

but this apparently got past both Jake and the screenwriter.

[–] JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies 13 years ago

Because it turns out that Berman isn't just doing something "cold & calculated"--he really is reacting out of anger and frustration to a large extent. So it makes sense for him to not be completely rational about it. What you're suggesting would ruin this aspect.

http://www.rateyourmusic.com/~JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies

[–] does_england_exist 13 years ago

I get that he may have genuinely had a freak out moment, but if it wasn't calculated, why did he have the gangster put the gun in the room (under the chair)?

To me that says he was intending to shoot somebody.

[–] lousvr 13 years ago

Agree.
It's a particular flaw in the writing..His great love for her. Do anything so no harm touches her. Not writen well
Yes after the shooting scene then it becomes a necessary lack of logical continuaty for the rest of the film.
I really like the feel of this film.. So I just quickly forget it and concentrate on the rest.

[–] does_england_exist 13 years ago

I like it too, even knowing it is inferior to its companion piece. I wouldn't have believed the same screenwriter penned it, but then both films' scripts were altered by the filmmakers.

It's hard not to cringe at some of the holes, some of the cheesy parallels to 'Chinatown' and honestly the whole sequence with Dunaway's voiceover and the obvious still shots of scenes from the other film should've been left out entirely.

But it's a good story, and I was happy to stick with it to the end. :-)