A Californian private eye is visited by a young woman, who tells a mysterious story of deception and intrigue and thus sets into motion a typical whodunnit tale of murder and sleaze. Only novelty is, we're not in his office with whisky on the table but instead in his beach-side shack with joints and beer: Inherent Vice is an LA detective movie updated to the hippy age. Larry 'Doc' Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is said snooper, only he's outfitted in a hippy shirt, jeans and sandals instead of suit, fedora and raincoat. Doc gets stoned rather than drunk and has sideburns that make Lemmy look pre-pubescent. He apparently smells, too. Badly.
The mercurial Joaquin Phoenix appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's critically acclaimed The Master, along with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. They reunite here for a stylish, funny and dark mystery story set in 1970.
The mercurial Joaquin Phoenix appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's critically acclaimed The Master, along with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. They reunite here for a stylish, funny and dark mystery story set in 1970.
I won't try to explain the plot in its fullness. It involves several strains, all interweaving, and includes Nazi motorcyclists, Asian drug smugglers, cops, land barons, the CIA and, naturally, hippies galore. Imagine if Woodstock had been held in a fascist state, then Humphrey Bogart was sent to investigate a kidnapping.
Suffice to say, the plot is winding and complex, and although not confused it is certainly confusing to sit through. It feels like you are sitting in the same hazy smoke that engulfs Doc, like Anderson is trying to put us in his sandals rather than simply show us the character.
It isn't quite as complicated as people suggest. I remember when everyone went on about how tricky Inception was to follow so I made a bit of an effort and all was well. So just concentrate and most of it should be fine. It certainly makes more sense than The Big Sleep which, in parts, made literally no sense.
It isn't quite as complicated as people suggest. I remember when everyone went on about how tricky Inception was to follow so I made a bit of an effort and all was well. So just concentrate and most of it should be fine. It certainly makes more sense than The Big Sleep which, in parts, made literally no sense.
Ultimately we must ask: does it matter that many viewers won't follow the events? Anderson says not really, and other critics agree. I'm not sure I do: why would you make a film that confuses people? It seems a little lacking in respect for the audience, but it is true that you don't have to be able to link every small detail to appreciate the movie. Even Doc doesn't really get what's going on half the time, and he seems pretty relaxed for a man in his predicament. I guess it's the herbal relaxants.
What Inherent Vice does so well is bottling the various social, cultural and political issues which raged at the time. So straight edged cops, Nazi bikers, drug dealers, hippies and wealthy businessmen are bump into each other in a desperate game of survival - Nixon makes an appearance. It is set very much in 1970, as the good times and optimism of the 1960s woke up to the hangover of the Watergate era. Heroin addicts are at the point where the highs are lows and Manson is mentioned several times.
Paul Thomas Anderson has a knack for producing films that make you think 'what was that about?' Just watch The Master and you'll see what I mean. If this were 1975 then the answer would be easy, and I'd wind this piece up by telling you that Inherent Vice is a comment on the times and that was its primary intention. But herei n 2015, instead it seems like a period piece adrift ideologically from the audience. So who knows what Anderson's motives were for making this, but he certainly condenses the spirit of the times into two and a half hours very neatly.
Like the plot strains, there are simply too many actors to evaluate outside of an academic thesis. Benicio del Toro, Owen Wilson, Reece Witherspoon, for example, to name but a trio. The star is obviously Phoenix, and I cannot recall any scenes in which he is not present. Amusing was Josh Brolin, a buzzcutted hippy-hating LAPD cop who always looks one annoyance away from a burst blood vessel. He is such a ridiculous little Hitler that he provides a good foil to the perpetually chilled Doc, with whom he reluctantly works. Together they form the Laurel and Hardy of law enforcement.
Paul Thomas Anderson has a knack for producing films that make you think 'what was that about?' Just watch The Master and you'll see what I mean. If this were 1975 then the answer would be easy, and I'd wind this piece up by telling you that Inherent Vice is a comment on the times and that was its primary intention. But herei n 2015, instead it seems like a period piece adrift ideologically from the audience. So who knows what Anderson's motives were for making this, but he certainly condenses the spirit of the times into two and a half hours very neatly.
Like the plot strains, there are simply too many actors to evaluate outside of an academic thesis. Benicio del Toro, Owen Wilson, Reece Witherspoon, for example, to name but a trio. The star is obviously Phoenix, and I cannot recall any scenes in which he is not present. Amusing was Josh Brolin, a buzzcutted hippy-hating LAPD cop who always looks one annoyance away from a burst blood vessel. He is such a ridiculous little Hitler that he provides a good foil to the perpetually chilled Doc, with whom he reluctantly works. Together they form the Laurel and Hardy of law enforcement.
Inherent Vice is beautifully made, and overall it is put together well enough that you don't have to worry about every minor plot intricacy. It is a little bloated and frayed at the seams, kind of like Doc, but definitely worth seeing as many times as you can stomach.
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