Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest, “Inherent Vice” is one very good film. The director of such films as ‘Boogie Nights’, ‘Magnolia’ and ‘There Will Be Blood’ takes us on a psychedelic and wacky who-dunnit journey with Joaquin Phoenix as ‘Larry “Doc” Sportello’ in the lead who plays a private investigator working out of an office at a medical clinic. There he interviews parties to a possible disappearance and…to smoke pot…he never sees patients…hmmm….
The movie runs a tad bit long at 148 minutes but takes its cue from and with a nod of the hat to Film Noir. The grainy texture of the film editing and cinematography is gorgeous, capturing and puts us smack dab in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Likely using inspiration from such movies as “Kiss me Deadly”, “The Third Man” or “Touch of Evil”, Anderson takes us on a wild, marijuana-induced ride with Phoenix and a hilarious Josh Brolin in the role of the often antagonistic Lt. “Bigfoot” who are both looking (for different reasons) into the potentially troubling disappearance of one Mickey Wolfmann played by Eric Roberts. The movie has so many characters , including several cameos (and a brilliant one by Martin Short I must say), and a constantly shifting plot line that it’s difficult to keep track (but not in a distracting way) which likely means I’ll go see it again.
I thought the acting was fantastic from top to bottom. Some standouts: Joaquin Phoenix was so great in this film. What a long way he has come from ‘Gladiator.’ His face is able to convey every sort of emotion from anger one moment to complete vulnerability the next; and his comic timing couldn’t be better. Josh Brolin shows his comic ability as well. The way he devours a certain fruit (his character has an affinity for frozen desserts) is a highlight of the film as well as when he eats pancakes in a Japanese restaurant. Katherine Waterston plays Shasta, the femme fatale at the center of this tangled plot line and she plays her captivatingly. She delivers a killer monologue near the end of the film to Phoenix’s character that Anderson captures with one shot. I won’t go into detail as it would spoil the moment but she is wonderful, vulnerable and entirely believable.
In the end I may have been scratching my head on what the heck that was all about…but I sure enjoyed seeing it!
Ben and Joe At The Movies 