The Two Jakes

The Two Jakes is a 1990 American neonoir mystery film, and the sequel to the 1974 film Chinatown.

In Los Angeles in 1948, Julius Jake Berman Keitel hires private investigator J. J. Jake Gittes Nicholson to catch his wife, Kitty, in the act of committing adultery. During the sting, Berman kills his rival, who also happens to be his business partner in a real estate development company. Gittes, not having known this, suddenly finds himself under scrutiny for his role in the possible crime, all of which centers around a wire recording that captured the illicit love meeting, the confrontation, and the killing of Mark Bodine. It calls into question if Berman knew and killed his partner to wrest control of the partnership, making it murder, or was an act of jealousy, which may qualify as temporary insanity and be permitted as a defense to a charge of murder.Gittes must convince LAPD captain Escobar Lopez that he should not be charged as an accomplice. Oddly, Berman seems unconcerned with the possibility that he may be accused of murder. Gittes has the recording, which Bermans attorney Cotton Weinberger Wallach and mobster friend Mickey Nice Blades both want, locked in a safe in his office in L.A., which is being rocked by earthquake temblors. Bermans housing development in the Valley also is experiencing seismic activities. Gittes is nearly killed in a gas explosion, waking to find Berman and wife Kitty Tilly standing over him. ........

Source: Wikipedia