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The conceit, according to writer Robert Towne, was that Chinatown was about water in the '30s, The Two Jakes about oil in the '40s, and a third film, Cloverleaf, to be about freeways and pollution in the '50s. (Watch the short featurette on the Jakes DVD and you'll hear a different tale, with that third film to be about 'privacy' and to be called Gittes vs. Gittes.)
Nicholson found himself directing this film, a tragic decision that leaves the film a muddy mess of half-baked mystery that is ultimately tidied up in obvious and uninspired fashion.
The film catches up with P.I. Jake Gittes, now a WWII veteran, engaged, and owning the building in which his agency is situated, but quickly wrapped up again in the Mulwray case when he ends up helping another Jake (Harvey Keitel) to confront his cheating wife. This isn't what it seems, and eventually he's led into the valley where those orange groves once stood, where track houses are being built, and where, it seems, black gold is under them thar hills. Naturally, people will do anything to get at the cash underground... including murder. Oh, and young Katherine Mulwray is, for whatever reason, a pawn in all this.
The movie doesn't totally stink, but it feels a lot like a retread of Chinatown, only without the style and panache that Polanski brought to the table. Of all the goings on, it's oddly enough Madeleine Stowe that steals the show (as the Faye Dunaway-like society vamp) and reminds us why she used to be such a big star. Madeleine, what happened to you? (Don't miss Nicholson reminiscing on the DVD about casting and 'meeting with' all the girls he thought would become famous.)
Ultimately, though, it's the haphazard direction, editing, and outright crazy script that sinks this boat within half an hour of launch. Things get worse as we go, sadly, until we are left to start ignoring the plot and instead start wondering who the hell thought The Two Jakes would be a good name for a movie.
