Review of Inherent Vice (2014) by Brett H — 22 Jan 2015

A stylish, neo-noir detective mystery that combines elements of The Big Lebowski and Chinatown to make an unfortunately incoherent mess that may have been the director's intention, but it makes for beyond-frustrating viewing.

The film is too long and there is way too much crap going on; feeling like an endless supply of new characters is in store after each scene closes. The cast is a laundry list of talent, but in a film this jumbled you actually resent seeing faces like Owen Wilson, Benicio Del Toro, and Maya Rudolph who feel pointless and detractory.

The story is interesting enough on its own, but the narrative gets so wildly over-calculated that you can't keep up with any of the story threads and the resolution is pretty lackluster. I love the way the film looks, there are some genuinely funny moments, and the acting is great (especially from Joaquin Phoenix who channels, The Dude, perfectly) but I wouldn't ever watch it again and am very disappointed with how it turned out given the talent in front and behind the camera.