Review of Inherent Vice (2014) by Doyle R — 25 Jan 2015

You probably have to be stoned to enjoy writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of the Thomas Pynchon comedy-drama crime novel. Set in 1970s Los Angeles amongst the hippie beach community, shortly after the Manson murders, where a private investigator (Joaquin Phoenix) is hired by his ex-girlfriend (Katherine Waterston) to find a real estate developer (Eric Roberts) that involves kidnapping, murder, prostitutes, white supremacists, drug addicts.

It has a deliberately convoluted plot that quickly descends into incoherence. None of this would matter if the movie had any redeeming entertainment value or if we had any connection to the characters, but we don't.

This could be the humorless flip side of "The Big Lebowski." Anderson is one of the most daring American directors today, but he appears to have lost his way here. There is none of the vitality, confident rhythm, or visual exuberance on display that Anderson is known for.

It doesn't have the hallucinatory imagery you'd expect, given the material. Even the actors don't seem as inspired. By the end of the two-and-a-half hours, we become overwhelmed with boredom.

Cinematography is by Robert Elswit; Music is by Johnny Greenwood. With Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio del Toro, Sasha Pieterse, Jena Malone, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short.