Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
By Alex Watson
The cinema of PT Anderson is always an engaging experience unlike any you will ever see. With his work such as Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood and his most recent effort, The Master there is always a strong sense of realism mixed with an almost ambient aura surrounding it. So far critically he has yet to put a foot wrong and his new effort adapting Thomas Pyncheon's 2009 novel, Inherent Vice might be another fine addition to an increasingly impressive collection.
Larry 'Doc' Sportello is a LA based private eye who is given a surprise when his ex girlfriend Shasta Fay Hepworth (Katherine Waterston) emerges from a long absence needing his help regarding the disappearance of her rich and powerful boyfriend. The resulting case will produce a web so complex Doc will have his work cut out. Also he has managed to run afoul of notorious LAPD Detective Christian 'Bigfoot' Bjornsen (Josh Brolin).
Inherent Vice is an Anderson movie that both excels but at the same time is immensely flawed. My first advice before viewing this film is to go with the flow because the central story line is one that will send your mind in all kinds of directions. In short, the disappearance of a real estate tycoon is the simple part of this whole mystery and there diversions galore to keep our minds ticking. Doc will also have to contend with Neo-Nazi's, saxophone player, Coy (Owen Wilson) who may or may not be a triple agent and an Indo-China cartel called The Golden Fang.
The principle difficulty in the analysis of this picture is that although the movie possesses a sharp and wicked sense of zany humour, it also has a heavy cloud of density hanging over it. All throughout there are red herrings and rumors that drive the plot which make for great and unpredictable viewing. What is the Golden Fang? They could be everything to do with the vanishing or could also be another detour from the path to discovery. However, sadly we are not left with any kind of clear answers. Artistically this could be clever trickery by Anderson and it could well be on multiple viewings that the real answer finally emerges.
Doc Sportello as a man is one who is very much of the pot smoking 70's and underneath his glazed eyes and his straw hat is a man who has become locked into one hell of a puzzle. In an era where the dreams of the 1960's have long since faded, Doc is a man who simply exists and his almost lathergic approach bizarrely endears him. In one scene, we see him write 'Seriously Smoking' on his notebook when interview a potential witness. His constant harassment by the Bigfoot gives the movies its main sense of laughs. The burly copper is fond of his civil rights violations but even more so of tormenting his hippie enemy/helper. Their phone calls (in particular Doc being dressed down by Mrs Bigfoot) make for some uncomfortably hilarious viewing.
Joaquin Phoenix is proving to be the new go to man for Anderson and as Doc he succeeds in bringing a real human quality to the role. Unlike the conflicted and impulsively violent Freddie Qualyle, Doc is like a passive counterpart who is having to up his level of thinking in order to survive. Phoenix also succeeds in bringing some great natural humour- his reaction to Jena Malone's picture is just genius. Among the starry cameos such as Reese Witherspoon, Benicio Del Toro and Owen Wilson, it is Josh Brolin who claims top supporting honours and as the borderline demented Bjornson, he is a thumping and bold presence.
Inherent Vice is a picture will be most likely be considered to wayward and scruffy to appeal for Academy Voters come prize time. But it is still a picture that deserves to be analysed over the coming years if only to unlock the mystery.
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