"It's a flaw--in the iris..."

Rating: 8/10 (2 March 2007)

Seminal classic of '70s cinema, with Jack Nicholson excellent as a mostly-ethical former cop-turned-private detective in 1930s Los Angeles who believes he's been hired by the wife of the chief engineer of the Water and Power Department; she thinks her husband's cheating on her but, as it turns out, she's not the real Mrs. at all, and so propels Nicholson's Jake "J.J." Gittes into a tug-of-war between powerful ex-partners, with carnality and family secrets the key to unraveling the mystery. Oscar-winning screenplay by Robert Towne (who also penned the 1990 extension, "The Two Jakes") is filled with complicated story threads and characters with chequered pasts--lots of fun, though it is somewhat unfair the script is always two steps ahead of the audience (it would be nearly impossible for a first-time viewer to solve this case on his own; Towne sets up the game and ends up solving it for the rest of us). However, the picture is so deftly orchestrated by director Roman Polanski, one becomes engrossed in the proceedings even while being bombarded with both clues and extraneous matter. Faye Dunaway's performance, as the breathy, mysterious daughter of water-czar John Huston, walks a fine line between melodramatic and campy--still, she's entirely in the spirit of the piece, and an interesting screen-match for Nicholson. The film is assured and entertaining; it pulls the viewer in without giving out enough information concerning the milieu, though this lack of knowledge for our sake doesn't hurt the returns. A cannier, guessing-game approach to the plot may have made the film more commercial (it was a modest box-office hit); however, this presentation, messy though it may be, is still arresting. Repeat viewings are a must. *** from ****