Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice, the seventh feature from Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood, The Master), is the writer/director’s sloppiest, most self-indulgent picture since Magnolia.  In adapting Thomas Pynchon’s weed-infused, literary shaggy dog story, Anderson gives in to his worst impulses—creating a rudderless, episodic, two and a half hour romp that plays like an interminable home movie made by a bunch of celebrity buddies over a few binge-filled weekends. Joaquin Phoenix plays Doc Sportello, a semi-legit private eye who gets entangled in an intentionally convoluted mystery that unfolds during the psychedelic haze of LA at the dawn of the 1970s.  Anderson clearly wants his turn making a hipster spin on a Raymond Chandler noir story the way Robert Altman, The Coen Brothers, Oliver Stone, Rian Johnson, and countless others have done. But Inherent Vice plays more like an homage to those earlier films than an original twist on Chandler’s hardboiled novels. Picture The Big Lebowski with only four laughs or The Long Goodbye made 40 years too late to be subversive, and you’ll get an accurate assessment of this film. 

On the plus side, Phoenix delivers another of his captivating, unpredictable performances, and some of the supporting players are equally enjoyable. Josh Brolin makes a terrific counterpoint to Phoenix’s laid-back hippy in the role of Doc’s ultra-square nemesis, Lt. "Bigfoot" Bjornsen, and Martin Short has a welcome extended cameo as a coked-up dentist. Unfortunately, far too much of the film’s casting just seems like great actors showing up to play small, inconsequential roles simply because they enjoy working with Anderson. The dissident tone and dreamlike mood evoked by Inherent Vice may make it a hit with contrarian critics and a favorite of stoner audiences who will watch it over and over looking for layers of subtext, but there’s little substance or style on offer in this picture.  I saw the movie at its world premiere at the New York Film Festival where it was well received by the crowd, but I couldn’t help notice the palpable lack of laughter from the 1000+ people sitting with me during the screening. I envision even less laughter from viewers who have seen the film’s trailer, which is well cut but gives away every funny moment. With so many exceptional neo-noirs to choose from, it’s difficult to recommend this half-baked concoction.