Who knows, really, how much of this story is genuine. It carries a solid morality that may have been just Hollywood to its creators. That morality is the give in this movie, it's what attaches any sense of social interest. Otherwise the movie is beautiful and cagey, neo-noir sort of like LA Confidential but also more classically complex in its form. Kind of like The Third Man the ending is unintentionally sentimental. Because with it, Jack Nicholson is a martyr, and without it, he's just the average guy they've been depicting since the beginning. I guess Polanski was reacting to the Manson stuff, but since then, the story in the background has changed a lot. Faye Dunaway is good but she tries a little too hard. I mean because of the new background the morality on good and bad is strange to process and accept. Filmmaking wise, it's a very technically proficient movie, and Nicholson is great—of course.