In some ways, the 21st Century viewer is at a serious disadvantage when he or she comes across Roman Polanski’s supposed finest hour, Chinatown, for if that viewer had the displeasure of viewing Jack Nicholson’s less than spectacular output in 2003 (Anger Managament and Something’s Gotta Give), they are well aware that Mr. Nicholson has become a caricature of both himself and Jake Gittes. The witty and embittered character that he was first honing in 1974 has become stale and repetitive, and its recurrent manifestation on the silver screen leads one to believe that rather than acting, Nicholson has scripts written specifically for him and he reads them as he would act in any other walk of life. I am sure it is quite a pleasure not have to act and being paid millions to do so; I guess some people are just blessed.
    Even when I put my Nicholson baggage to one side, I do not like this film. I know of (but naturally could never truly understand) the tragic and traumatic events of director Roman Polanksi’s life: holocaust, murder of his second wife, Sharon Tate, by Charles Manson, and his fugitive status. So, I can empathize with his cynicism, but I still do not accept his overriding philosophy that we as individual humans do not have any agency in this world. He argues that we are simply at the mercy of fate. I accept that some of us are dealt harder hands than others, but you can still play a bad hand well. In fact, that is exactly what Polanski has done of the course of his career by producing renowned art despite his inherent disadvantages. However, I disagree with the message of his art. We do have agency, and Gittes should have shot his partner in the final scene. And, it is all very well for Polanski to critique capitalism and make his audience depressed about the state of the world, but he has been living the high life in France for last 30 odd years while some people suffer without any money or food. Mr. Nicholson and Mr. Polanski, something’s gotta give.
Nashville