Rating of
3.5/4
Misleading The Misleaders
Unknown - wrote on 04/29/14
'Chinatown' is a constricting noir mystery that unravels it's knotted narrative in a wildly unpredictable manner. Each new twist is just a lie to cover up another lie, and so on. That is, until the shocking truth is revealed. Turns out to be less complicated than it initially started. That classic noir sensibility is oozing through every frame and out of every character. This was made a couple decades after the genre was fading, but it sits equal with the best of those early masterworks of crime. My only real complaint is the fact that the movie takes it's sweet time to get to the point. Not an overly long film, but one that has pacing issues due to the many asides our main case solver runs into. Though, the great payoff does forgive some of this. Shame on a few other reviewers on here who gave away one of the main surprises of the third act. Every bit of the movie is best left unspoiled to be fully appreciated.
