Polanski's Peak

Rating: 9/10 (8 June 2006)

Nicholson is ideally cast as a private detective in the mold of Philip Marlowe who's drawn into a mysterious web of murder, politics, and corruption. Dunaway gives perhaps the best performance of her career as the tormented Femme Fatale with a secret past. The fine supporting cast includes Huston as a menacing patriarch. This is the best film on Polanski's impressive resume and he beautifully evokes 1930s L.A. with a film noir look composed of muted colors, perfectly complemented by Goldsmith's moody score and Towne's Oscar-winning script. The director also has a memorable cameo as a knife-wielding heavy. A haunting masterpiece.