Review of Inherent Vice (2014) by Brandon S — 10 Mar 2017

"Inherent Vice" is as perfectly groovy a film noir as we're likely to see in a lifetime. P.T. Anderson has done it again.

Now, there will be people who say that this movie is horrible. I won't argue. There will be those who say this is the best film ever made. I won't argue with them either. Paul Thomas Anderson has never made films that are for the regular viewing audience, and as such he's never really had a film that everyone everywhere agrees on (the closest he's had thus far has been "Boogie Nights").

Me personally, I think he's wonderful filmmaker, and one of my absolute favorite artists working today. But he's not everyone's cup of tea. The same could be said about this film.

Film noir has always interested me in their use of shadow and atmosphere. What's interesting here is that Anderson flips the formula for how film noir is made. There's no heavy shadows or booze-addled detectives. Rather there's bright colors, a breazy and surreal atmosphere, and a cast of hilarious characters, including our hippie hero, Doc.