[4] Directed by and starring Jack Nicholson, who reprises his role of J.J. “Jake” Gittes from the first film, the cast also features Harvey Keitel, Meg Tilly, Madeleine Stowe, Richard Farnsworth, Frederic Forrest, David Keith, Rubén Blades, Tracey Walter and Eli Wallach.

Also reprising their roles from Chinatown are Joe Mantell, Perry Lopez, James Hong, and, in a brief voice-over, Faye Dunaway.

It received mixed reviews and was not a box office success and plans for a third film, with Gittes near the end of his life, were abandoned.

During the sting, Berman unexpectedly kills his wife's lover, Mark Bodine, who is also his partner in a real estate development company.

Gittes is forced to convince Los Angeles Police Department Captain Lou Escobar, an old acquaintance, that he should not be charged as an accomplice.

He also discovers that the deed transfers were executed in a manner to attempt to hide Katherine Mulwray's prior ownership and continued claim of the mineral rights.

Gittes edits the recording, omitting Kitty's name and making other alterations to indicate Bodine's death was not premeditated.

With no remains left to recover, the police make no attempt to investigate his death and Kitty inherits a substantial sum from her late husband.

Producer Robert Evans had the rights to a Chinatown sequel, and in 1976 had negotiated for Jack Nicholson to reprise his role and Dustin Hoffman to act alongside him; that version eventually fell through.

Nicholson, Evans, and Towne had formed their own production company to make the film independently, and entered into a distribution deal with Paramount Pictures.

In April 1985, Kelly McGillis, Cathy Moriarty, Dennis Hopper, Joe Pesci, and Harvey Keitel had all been cast, ready to shoot the film that month.

[6] On top of existing problems between Nicholson, Towne, and Evans, grievances were filed by 120 crew members who had not been paid (over $500,000 from Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild of America members, and $1.5 million from suppliers of sets, props, costumes, and sound stages), and the project was officially postponed indefinitely.

[5] Because the film had not been budgeted normally due to the initial Evans–Towne–Nicholson plan, Towne approached producer Dino De Laurentiis for help in financing it.

However, the constant shuffling worried Paramount, who withdrew from the distribution deal, eventually taking a $4 million loss on the film.

[5] Numerous scenes had to be reshot after initial filming had wrapped, causing the release date to get pushed from Christmas 1989 to August 1990.

[15] Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, writing that "every scene falls into place like clockwork [...] exquisite".