The premise of the film was interesting, with the revelation that the woman who hired the detective to spy on her errant husband is not, in fact, the wife. The plot then twists around the murder victim's connection to the water company and the local farmers' plight during the drought. So far, so good; the acting is great and the two leads are believable in their respective roles. There are a few contenders for the murder suspect, although the ultimate perpetrator is fairly easily identified as the likeliest killer quite early on. Unfortunately, from about halfway through, the plot begins to drag quite dreadfully, the two leads form an unlikely and frankly unbelievable union, and the ending is both unsatisfactory and highly implausible. A promising start, but this film left me sorely disappointed.
Review of Chinatown
