Chinatown
You get tough. You get tender. You get close to each other. Maybe you even get close to the truth.
Overview
Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.
Like many of the good movies that I’ve seen recently, “Chinatown” seemed to have me a tad perplexed upon completion. I know that I had seen something quite unique but I wasn’t sure exactly how to place it. More on that in a minute.
In case you’ve never heard of this movie, Chinatown is one of the few movies on Rottentomatoes.com to receive a perfect score (100% critical approval). The star is Jack Nicholson, who plays the head of a detective agency that seems to specialize in infedility. Nicholson plays a variation of the bad boy that he plays in so many movies. However, this time there is a twist – it seems that Jack’s character has a bit of hero in him. This is a little odd to see because in so many of his movies Jack is on the other side of the law.
Anyway, as I said a minute ago my initial reaction to this movie was somewhat mixed. After some contemplation I believe that the reason for this was the pacing of the movie. We’ve become so used to there not being a break or a pause in movies, television, music, etc that I believe our minds have become trained to a dizzying pace of media. While Chinatown was a lot of fun to watch, the plot did take some time to develop and not everything was spelled out for the viewer.
One other trait that makes this movie a great one is that the viewer never really knows how deep the movie goes until it gets there. For example, in a movie about a bank heist you know that the whole movie is leading up to the big event. Chinatown starts with Nicholson accepting a case from a woman who fears that her husband is a cheat. As the movie progresses the viewer can’t help but think that they’ve arrived at the heart of the movie only to be mistaken. It isn’t until the last scene that everything makes sense, and that scene is rewarding because it isn’t the typical Hollywood ending.
The only thing that was slightly unrewarding is the resolution to the movie. “Chinatown” is alluded to a few times in the movie but by no means was it a major theme. I thought it made the ending slightly awkward, as if maybe the director had pieced it together at the last minute.
IHATEBadMovies.com reviews Chinatown
Movie title: Chinatown
Movie description: Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.
Date published: 2008-04-13
Director(s): Roman Polański
Actor(s): Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez, John Hillerman, Roman Polański, Diane Ladd, Roy Jenson, Richard Bakalyan, James Hong, Bruce Glover, Joe Mantell, Roy Roberts, Noble Willingham, Rance Howard, Jesse Vint, Burt Young, Lee de Broux, Darrell Zwerling, Nandu Hinds, James O'Rear, Beulah Quo, Jerry Fujikawa, Belinda Palmer, Elliott Montgomery, George Justin, C.O. Erickson, Charles Knapp, Claudio Martinez, Federico Roberto, Allan Warnick, John Holland, Jim Burk, Denny Arnold, Elizabeth Harding, John Rogers, Cecil Elliott, Paul Jenkins, Bob Golden, Richard Warren, Fritzi Burr
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
My Review
Like many of the good movies that I’ve seen recently, “Chinatown” seemed to have me a tad perplexed upon completion. I know that I had seen something quite unique but I wasn’t sure exactly how to place it. More on that in a minute.
In case you’ve never heard of this movie, Chinatown is one of the few movies on Rottentomatoes.com to receive a perfect score (100% critical approval). The star is Jack Nicholson, who plays the head of a detective agency that seems to specialize in infedility. Nicholson plays a variation of the bad boy that he plays in so many movies. However, this time there is a twist – it seems that Jack’s character has a bit of hero in him. This is a little odd to see because in so many of his movies Jack is on the other side of the law.
Anyway, as I said a minute ago my initial reaction to this movie was somewhat mixed. After some contemplation I believe that the reason for this was the pacing of the movie. We’ve become so used to there not being a break or a pause in movies, television, music, etc that I believe our minds have become trained to a dizzying pace of media. While Chinatown was a lot of fun to watch, the plot did take some time to develop and not everything was spelled out for the viewer.
One other trait that makes this movie a great one is that the viewer never really knows how deep the movie goes until it gets there. For example, in a movie about a bank heist you know that the whole movie is leading up to the big event. Chinatown starts with Nicholson accepting a case from a woman who fears that her husband is a cheat. As the movie progresses the viewer can’t help but think that they’ve arrived at the heart of the movie only to be mistaken. It isn’t until the last scene that everything makes sense, and that scene is rewarding because it isn’t the typical Hollywood ending.
The only thing that was slightly unrewarding is the resolution to the movie. “Chinatown” is alluded to a few times in the movie but by no means was it a major theme. I thought it made the ending slightly awkward, as if maybe the director had pieced it together at the last minute.
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My Review - 9/10
9/10