Detective Perfection

Rating: 9/10 (19 April 2011)

A private detective (Jack Nicholson) is hired to spy on a woman's husband. But he stumbles on to a much bigger story: corruption, murder, incest... the city of Los Angeles has a powerful elite, but can it be cracked?
This story takes place in a world somewhere between "The Maltese Falcon" and "L.A. Confidential", and would be right at home with either (or both). While "Confidential" ranks as one of my all-time favorite detective stories, "Chinatown" now also gets a spot. It really is an epic and a tale you cannot avert your eyes from.
The film marks a turning point in Roman Polanski's career. A step away from art films and British comedies to a full-budget, Hollywood-style film with big name actors. While his other films up until now were for the most part good films, this is the one that probably hit home with American audiences. And considering the script won an Academy Award, it was excellent material to work with. (Of course, "Rosemary's Baby" was also a hit, but I suspect this was even more mainstream.)
Nicholson is great here, in part because he is subdued. He gets a lot of credit for playing violent or insane characters, but gets much less credit for his work as a protagonist without illness. In some ways, this could be considered Nicholson's best work because he carried the film, presented his character well, and did not have to fall back on the crazy facade he has mastered.