If Robert Towne and Roman Polanski fell out over Chinatown, worse happened during this sequel. With Towne directing, shooting was cancelled after the first day when Robert Evans - the producer of the first film - was fired in the role of the villain, the other Jake. Shooting resumed four years later with Jack Nicholson as director/star and Harvey Keitel replacing Evans, and Towne and Nicholson haven't spoken since. The result was crushing disappointment, even anger at the wasted opportunity. Not since The Godfather Part II did a sequel have such high expectations. The second in Towne's planned trilogy about land deals in Los Angeles in the late 1940s, it evokes eerie echoes of the first story, but is muddled and lacks the epic perspectives of the original. But some scenes stand out and Nicholson has a sharp, sardonic eye for the trash culture of southern California.

Real estate developer Jake Berman hires private investigator and war veteran Jake Gittes for some run-of-the-mill matrimonial work. After Berman shoots his wife's lover, who happens to be his business partner, Gittes is drawn into a web of conspiracy and deceit involving the oil reserves beneath Los Angeles. While investigating, Gittes hears a voice from his past that causes him to revisit a traumatic case in Chinatown.