MovieChat Forums > The Two Jakes (1990) Discussion > The director

The director

posted 15 years ago by tejonm
3 replies | jump to latest

Every time I see this film, I wonder what is the problem? It is pretty good but yes, they waited too long and I kept wondering why? Jack Nicholson did not age well and he now plays JACK NICHOLSON rather than the character in the story!

Finally it hit me---what is missing is Roman Polanski's direction! I think it would have made all the difference. Also, I wonder if that was the reason for the long delay between the two films. Polanski's legal problems kept him in europe, and his direction is sorely missed in this film. Yes, Jack Nicholson did a capable job as director, but Roman Polanski he isn't!

[–] continuousmonsterdrip 14 years ago

You got it. There is a great deal of ineptitude in Nicholson's directing. Downright cheesy at times. I still like it, however flawed, as I'm led to believe you do as well by your saying "every time you see it". I'd wanted to see the western Nicholson directed. Not so much now. It seems pretty near impossible to make a perfect movie, like Chinatown. So we shouldn't be surprised with the pitfalls of The Two Jakes. But the former comes off a lot more aged than Chinatown, which has stood the test of time for what... 40 years or so? I too believe most of that has to do with the directors.

[–] bpvalentine 14 years ago

I just watched THE TWO JAKES for the first times since I was a kid. I revisited CHINATOWN last summer, but avoided its sequel because of the bad buzz and my memory of it as being a turd -- a Jack Nicholson ego trip, which it still has moments of, just in terms of...Meg Tilly tries to bed him? I understood Madeline Stowe doing it. Her character was a nut job (a brilliant scene, btw, and sort of a funny comment on women's desires in contrast to virtues expected of them).

I REALLY liked THE TWO JAKES this time out. I might even dig it better than CHINATOWN.

The script for TWO JAKES was a lot more loving and ambitious than CHINATOWN, in my opinion. A little over complicated, sure. It might have been better as a novel. Or maybe Towne got to be too smart for his own good at writing popular cinema. He was red hot writing this story. The ideas are insanely inspired. The characters are memorable as hell -- it IS the casting and direction that sort of flubs it. Favorite details relate to the oil being under the land - how Jack lights a cigarette and blows him up -- send him throug the aur. So, so cool. Scorsese stole that shot five year later for CASINO.

However, aside from the slightly too slow pacing, Jack did his BEST impersonation of Polanski. You guys don't stop and consider that Polanksi's career has not been full of gems since feeling America. A couple. I think he would have not wanted The Two Jakes to follow the Chinatown pattern -- I suspect he would have not retained its look to the extent Jack (thankfully) did. I think the direction was MARVELOUS done. Give credit where it belongs, c'mon.

The affection for Chinatown in this film is evident and it's sweet. I adore the theme of The TWO JAKES, brooding over lost love, failing at redemption, hanging onto ghosts because, without them, you're nothing.

[–] continuousmonsterdrip 14 years ago

I've like Polanski's work before and after but especially during Chinatown. I didn't think Jack's directing was good at all. The cinematography was brilliant but not the directing. I didn't find the movie memorable like you did. No classic lines or scenes. This was only a few months ago that I watched it and I can barely recall anything about it, except that it felt like watching an unhumorous Beverly Hills cop.