Jake 'J.J' Gittes

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Jake 'J.J.' Gittes is a fictional Irish-American private eye in the film-noir movies Chinatown and The Two Jakes.

Gittes is played in both films by Jack Nicholson. He lives in Los Angeles from where he runs his Private Detective business with the aid of his two assistants Larry and Duffy; famed for his unorthodox method, he's known as a man to turn to if you want to get something done. However, despite his nasty reputation, he has strong morals: he will never betray a friend or extort a confidante and he just can't help but come to the aid of a damsel in distress. Most of his cases revolve around marriage disputes, implied infidelities in which it's up to him to prove or disprove the accused's guilt, but for him these always seem to lead into murkier water - from the land rustling and water stealing conspiracy of Chinatown to the murder of a wealthy realtor linked to an orange grove connected to his past in The Two Jakes.