Review of Inherent Vice (2014) by Camille L — 04 Mar 2015

Inherent Vice is the 2009 novel written by Thomas Pynchon and is the 2014 comedy crime drama film adapted and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and is the first adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel for the screen. Starring Joaquin Phoenix as "Doc" Sportello, Josh Brolin as Det. "Bigfoot" Bjornsen, Owen Wilson as Coy Harlingen, Katherine Waterston as Shasta Hepworth, Reese Witherspoon as Penny Kimball, Benicio del Toro as Sauncho Smilax, Joanna Newsom as Sortilege (the narrator of the story in voiceover), Martine Short as Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd (the crazy dentist), and a cast of supporting characters/actors to further the storyline and plot of the original literature. This film is a close adaptation, as I understand it, Anderson followed the literature verbatim, so most of the story elements have been kept and few were added or dropped.

The story takes place in 1970 in Los Angeles where the Manson Family murder trials are taking place and is a recurring event throughout the novel. Pothead private investigator Larry "Doc" Sportello has a visit by his former girlfriend Shasta Fay Hepworth, who is involved with Mickey Wolfmann, a wealthy real estate investor, asking his help to stop Mickey from being sent to a mental hospital by his wife Sloane and her boyfriend. It is here that he is asked to find a man named Glen Charlock, a bodyguard of Mickey's, who Tariq Khalil, the seeker, claims that Glen owes him a lot of money after they both spent time in prison together.

Knocked unconscious while viewing one of Mickey's real estate investments, he finds himself accused in the shooting of Charlock by his old enemy Det. "Bigfoot" Bjornsen and in the disappearance of Mickey. He has another client, Hope Harlingen, widow of Coy Harlingen, musician, who wants Doc to find out if the rumors are true that Coy is still alive. (REMEMBER, DOC IS A PI AND THESE ARE THE CASES HE HAS THAT THE BOOK FOLLOWS - AND SO DOES THE FILM!) Through this particular case, while Doc does find Coy, but also learns about an old ship called the Golden Fang, which is suspected of transporting mysterious goods to port and that possibly both Mickey and Shasta are aboard. Coy has been working as an agent and informer for the government and has not been allowed any contact with his wife and child. Doc learns also that Puck Beaverton has switched shifts with Charlock the day he was killed and that Mickey had been planning to make up for all his sins at the time he vanished.

The story continues with Doc going to Golden Fang Enterprises, meeting Japonica Fenway that Doc helped before and learns that she has stayed in Chryskylodon Institute, where he pays a visit and as lucky would have it (or to keep the continuity of the story and plot going), he runs into Coy and figures out that Mickey has been taken, and when Doc was attacked, Charlock was killed by a group of vigilantes doing this type of work for the LAPD. There is a link between Puck and Adrian Prussia, a bigtime loan shark. During a road trip to Las Vegas, Doc sees Mickey with federal agents and learns of Mickey's philanthropic housing project in the desert. Visiting the site, he runs into Riggs Warbling, the architect of the project, who is worried that Mickey has been reprogrammed and this project has been abandoned.

We are not quite finished with this lengthy novel. Doc returns to LA from the desert to learn that Puck and Vincent Indelicato, Bigfoot's former police partner, are enemies, and Adrian Prussia was used as an assassin, who is immune from prosecution, employed Puck and allowed him to kill Indelicato. The story then starts to fill in a lot of the caps and connect all these people. Adrian claims to be the head of the Golden Fang organization and Puck declares that Charlock was killed because he was supplying weapons to black power groups.

While Doc is about to be given a lethal overdose of drugs, he escapes and kills both Puck and Adrian. Bigfoot finds Doc, but tries to set him up with stolen heroin in the trunk of his car, but Doc discovers the drugs and hides them, contacting Crocker Fenway (Japonica' father that Doc has worked for before) and who acts as an intermediary for the Golden Fang. Doc hands over the drugs on the condition that Coy is allowed to return to his family.

The novel is almost complete. It is here that Doc and his lawyer Sauncho learn that the Golden Fang ship is about to leave the harbor, and along with the Coast Guard, they chase the ship that is abandoned after encountering a huge wave. Doc receives money from Fabian Fazzon on a bet made about Mickey and Coy is reunited with his wife Hope, and his daughter Amethyst.

Now, I have told you all of this simply because the film is exactly like it. Almost word for word and visual for visual. Anderson, I understand, started with the novel and then wrote the script, so as I previously stated, this film is a very close adaptation to the literature. While the voiceover was happening, I actually felt like I was reading the book. That exact! Nicely done Mr. Anderson.

To explain a bit further, the title refers to a flaw in a physical object that may cause it to depreciate due to the instability of all its parts, making it, in legal terms, an unacceptable risk to a carrier or insurer. Seems Pynchon uses this term occasionally in some of his other novels, which I have not read.

The literature and the film may be a bit frustrating for anyone who is looking for something that is clear and concise - coherent, but if you follow along carefully, you can see the continuity in the story and the plot, especially through the adaptation of the novel and the acting by the main characters in the film, particularly Brolin. So it is a challenge, but it is unique and if you are a fan of Anderson, which I am, you will enjoy this cinematic treat. Shot in and around Los Angeles with period music to highlight the action, the camera work was well handled as was the overall acting, dialog, costumes, and makeup. All helped to move the film along. I hated the voiceover (I do in most films, but in this one, it was very annoying) and for that reason, my grade for this film. Suggestion! See it and decide for yourself, but stay awake or you will miss something vital to the story. GRADE: 4 of 5 crowns.