Surprisingly enjoyable.
I didn't think I would like this movie that much. I thought it would be a boring, mostly talking movie that would be hard to get into. I was wrong. The story is very interesting and it's a great mystery that's really involving.
Jack Nicholsson was great as J.J. Gittes, a wise-cracking private investigator who is in way over his head. He was a really interesting character and I enjoyed seeing him on screen. In some ways he was nieve and innocent, showing that he didn't quite know what he was doing. And in other ways he was wise and good-hearted, showing that while he didn't quite know what he was doing, he knew he was doing the right thing, and that was what was needed for this case and for this world.
But by the end of the movie, you see that doing the right thing doesn't get you far in the world. It's a bleak thought, but it's what I think the film is all about. You can see that at the end of the movie, Gittes does not want to investigate another case. You can see the tiredness in his eyes and a look that says he's given up on the world, and that it's no place for a good man like him. Jack Nicholsson was great in this movie, and his character becomes more and more interesting as the movie goes along.
Faye Dunaway plays Evelyn Mulwray, the wife of a man who has recently died, and it's the job of Gittes to investigate. Dunaway was great as the constantly mysterious wife, who seemed both helpful and deceitful in her ways. She had a great performance and you really want to know more about her character.
Overall, a great movie with an interesting story that keeps you involved throughout, stellar performances from Nicholsson and Dunaway, and not to mention great camera work. The lighting was amazing and really helped with the mood of the story, and the picture quality was also spectacular for a film from 1974. The only problem I had was I wished that there would have been more development on the father character and the final "plot twist" concerning him, if you will. I really enjoyed Chinatown and I'm glad I watched it, and I would reccomend it to any Jack Nicholsson fan or any fan of noir films.
4.8/5