it's those looks that count

Rating: 9/10 (7 November 2003)

The whole movie gives me a great, warm feeling everytime I watch it. Robert Towne's script is perfectly directed and acted. The scene that epitomizes just how well everything comes together is so simple: Nicholson is waiting in the car for Dunaway after meeting with her daughter/sister. He knows he's been lied to and Dunaway enters the car, startled by his presence. He asks for the keys. She acts surprised. He says, "It's either that or you drive to the police yourself..." Again, she acts clueless. It is here where Nicholson makes the slightest of facial gestures, right before saying, "C'mon, Mrs. Mulwray-- you've got your husband's girlfriend tied up in there." The whole scene is marvelous, and the facial expression makes it.

There are so many tiny moments like these--so true to real life--and it heightens everything the movie has to offer.
"The district attorney gives his men advice like that?"
"They do in Chinatown."