Product: The Two Jakes [VHS] (1990)
Rating: 4.0
Brilliant on its own
Yes it does help tremendously if you know the story of "Chinatown" before viewing,because the impact of the final scene here is devastating. However, Jack Nicholson does a monumental task of making the time and place feel just as right as the original, even though it is 14 years later. Even though the women characters have to contend with the ghost of Dunaway, both Msdeline Stowe and Meg Tilly are fine.....and also vastly underrated is the work by Harvey Keitel and Richard Farnsworth as a wolf in sheep's clothing. If you havent seen "Chinatown" this film will stand on its own, as enough exposition is given to follow the plot, but if you are an admirer or Polanski's classic, "The Two Jakes" is a remarkable acheivement in adding a solemn bookend to a tragic story.