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Title: What's all the fuss about?
Review: I don't get why Chinatown is such a well respected movie. It is slooooow. Jack Nicholson plays Jack Nicholson. Every scene is long and drawn out often with no dialogue to keep it interesting. Half an hour could have been shaved off this with no real loss. I mean do we really have to watch him climbing over a chainlink fence for 5 minutes. No! But the biggest beef I have is with the direction. The filming of the ending scene which everyone always says is so great is all jumbly and amateur looking.I never really got to form an attachment to any of the main characters, they seemed more like modern actors self-consciously trying to embody certain film noir types.If you really want film noir go to the true source-- forties and fifties films like Panic in the Streets, the Asphalt Jungle, An Ace in the Hole or Laura.The only true heir to the film noir mantle in modern cinema is "The Usual Suspects." (Damn I wish Bryan Singer would make another movie like that one, but I digress)
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