THE TWO JAKES 4K UHD - Andy's Kino Lorber 4K Review
Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2025 10:11 am
6/10
A long-gestating, troubled sequel to “Chinatown” that found writer Robert Towne and producer Robert Evans eventually – and infamously – falling out after numerous, aborted attempts to get it made, “The Two Jakes” arrived unceremoniously in theaters in August of 1990 where it quickly bombed. In fact, outside of effusive praise from Siskel & Ebert, nobody seemed to notice, either – not even a year after star Jack Nicholson’s career shot into the stratosphere following the release of “Batman.”
Nicholson also directed “Jakes,” which finds detective Jack Gittes a bit world wearier and involved in a cheating scandal involving the wife (Madeleine Stowe) of an L.A. businessman (Harvey Keitel) who subsequently kills her lover. Naturally, it’s not just the interpersonal case that Gittes becomes wrapped up with but issues involving oil, real estate development, and the offspring (Meg Tilly) of what turns out to be a figure still haunting Jake from years before.
Problematic in its convoluted plotting but still watchable (who’s going to complain about a film offering both Meg Tilly and Madeline Stowe looking better than ever?), “The Two Jakes” likely would’ve fared better had Towne himself directed the film – which he was going to do in the mid ‘80s with a fully cast production that shut down before filming commenced after it turned out producer Evans couldn’t act opposite Nicholson (Evans was going to improbably co-star in what ultimately turned into Keitel’s role). Aborted attempts to make the film with Harrison Ford instead of Nicholson and Roy Scheider playing opposite him stalled out, leading even The Cannon Group (!) to get involved before Evans kiboshed their plans.
Showing up years after the fact, “The Two Jakes” is a curious film that might appeal to genre enthusiasts but Nicholson’s poor, claustrophobic staging of the material – despite working with cinematographer Vimos Zsigmond – results in a movie that fails to scale most of the heights of its far superior predecessor. Keitel comes off as miscast, the heavy-handed Van Dyke Parks score is utterly forgettable and makes one lament that Jerry Goldsmith hadn’t scored the picture back in 1985, and the wistful touches that Towne intended to bring to this more bittersweet story (such as a more moving and visually lyrical ending) were mostly lost in Nicholson’s well-intentioned but uneven, and at-times dull, finished product.
Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD (1.85) hails from a new 4K scan of the 35mm OCN and offers Dolby Vision HDR. For the most part this is a really nice, pleasant remaster with warm colors though there are times when noise unavoidably crops into the frame here and there. Both 5.1 and 2.0 DTS MA mixes are included, plus archival extras including a 20-minute discussion with the star/director, who talks about the movie’s inherent issues (including his own shortcomings as a filmmaker) but also its generally overlooked aspects. New supplements include interviews with editor Anne Goursaud and co-star David Keith, plus a commentary with celebrated mystery writer Max Allan Collins and podcaster Heath Holland.
A long-gestating, troubled sequel to “Chinatown” that found writer Robert Towne and producer Robert Evans eventually – and infamously – falling out after numerous, aborted attempts to get it made, “The Two Jakes” arrived unceremoniously in theaters in August of 1990 where it quickly bombed. In fact, outside of effusive praise from Siskel & Ebert, nobody seemed to notice, either – not even a year after star Jack Nicholson’s career shot into the stratosphere following the release of “Batman.”
Nicholson also directed “Jakes,” which finds detective Jack Gittes a bit world wearier and involved in a cheating scandal involving the wife (Madeleine Stowe) of an L.A. businessman (Harvey Keitel) who subsequently kills her lover. Naturally, it’s not just the interpersonal case that Gittes becomes wrapped up with but issues involving oil, real estate development, and the offspring (Meg Tilly) of what turns out to be a figure still haunting Jake from years before.
Problematic in its convoluted plotting but still watchable (who’s going to complain about a film offering both Meg Tilly and Madeline Stowe looking better than ever?), “The Two Jakes” likely would’ve fared better had Towne himself directed the film – which he was going to do in the mid ‘80s with a fully cast production that shut down before filming commenced after it turned out producer Evans couldn’t act opposite Nicholson (Evans was going to improbably co-star in what ultimately turned into Keitel’s role). Aborted attempts to make the film with Harrison Ford instead of Nicholson and Roy Scheider playing opposite him stalled out, leading even The Cannon Group (!) to get involved before Evans kiboshed their plans.
Showing up years after the fact, “The Two Jakes” is a curious film that might appeal to genre enthusiasts but Nicholson’s poor, claustrophobic staging of the material – despite working with cinematographer Vimos Zsigmond – results in a movie that fails to scale most of the heights of its far superior predecessor. Keitel comes off as miscast, the heavy-handed Van Dyke Parks score is utterly forgettable and makes one lament that Jerry Goldsmith hadn’t scored the picture back in 1985, and the wistful touches that Towne intended to bring to this more bittersweet story (such as a more moving and visually lyrical ending) were mostly lost in Nicholson’s well-intentioned but uneven, and at-times dull, finished product.
Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD (1.85) hails from a new 4K scan of the 35mm OCN and offers Dolby Vision HDR. For the most part this is a really nice, pleasant remaster with warm colors though there are times when noise unavoidably crops into the frame here and there. Both 5.1 and 2.0 DTS MA mixes are included, plus archival extras including a 20-minute discussion with the star/director, who talks about the movie’s inherent issues (including his own shortcomings as a filmmaker) but also its generally overlooked aspects. New supplements include interviews with editor Anne Goursaud and co-star David Keith, plus a commentary with celebrated mystery writer Max Allan Collins and podcaster Heath Holland.