Review of Inherent Vice (2014) by Dustin G — 12 Jan 2016

I think Joaquin's expression on the poster is seriously a good indication of my feelings on the film - MEH. the entire film was seriously just rambling dialogue, whether from the characters in the scenes themselves or the never-ceasing narration from Joanna Newsom's character. the entire film is like a ceaseless stream of consciousness drug-fueled paranoia trip with no story arc, it's a total joke! there are a handful of scenes that are actually really entertaining and they're mostly between Joaquin Phoenix and Josh Brolin (no surprise). I feel like most of the character performances are alright, but there's no real framework to the story for them to take part in to really shine. like Joaquin just ambles along gathering names (of which there are far too many to add up to anything, many don't even make an appearance) of people who could contribute to the disappearance of his ex's BF (or his ex for that matter...), and then all of a sudden he's captured and then the movie is quickly over (after 2 hours of random suspicion and little real conflict). it was just hard to follow since the plot was so information and exposition-dense so you just don't know what the hell's going on. cinematography was on-point as usual, but I never had any real jaw-drop moments like I did during The Master. most of the movie happens at night, so there's some cool shadow play throughout the film.

The soundtrack was fantastic though, a really cool mix of classics and deep cuts from the 60's/70's - WOULD recommend.

Overall, i'd say if you REALLY love PTA, sure see it in theaters for yourself. if not, maybe consider not wasting two hours and 20 minutes on it or at least wait to pirate it.