Chinatown, Roman Polanski’s 1974 neo-noir starring Jack Nicholson as private detective Jake Gittes and written by veteran script doctor Robert Towne, is one of those classics that film buffs kind of give you the evil eye for never having seen, though not without good reason, as it’s an excellent movie. Taking a page from Raymond Chandler’s play book, the story takes place in L.A. in the ’30s and has a complex multi-layered story dealing with murder, corruption, money, power, family issues, and, above all, water. Gittes isn’t quite Philip Marlowe—he’s a little too flashy, too good-looking (a fact that is remedied in part by a particularly famous scene early in the film involving a knife and Jake’s nose), but he’s got the same cockiness and penchant for getting into trouble; Faye Dunaway plays the femme fatale with aplomb; and John Huston (who directed noir classic The Maltese Falcon) is in fine form as the charming, controlling villain of the piece. The film’s eponymous location is referenced several times, though not seen until the very end of the film; throughout, there’s a definite implication that Chinatown corrupts everything it touches, leading to the film’s famous closing line: “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”