Review of Inherent Vice (2014) by Jersey C — 17 Jan 2015

When I first heard that this movie was coming out I was really excited about it. I had heard nothing but good things about Thomas Pynchon, and have a number of his books on my "need to read" list. Unfortunately that list hasn't been tackled much lately. Anyway, looking at the cast and the trailer I had high hopes for this movie. And those hopes were slowly drowned in a sea of random storylines without direction. The film seems to try to go for a stream of consciousness flow that is a composite of short stories instead of anything that comes close to a cohesive plot. Needless to say, I was disappointed.

That being said there are positives. Josh Brolin does a great job of playing the part of this bizarre 70's cop who's one part super cop, one part Hollywood caricature desperate for attention. There are also moments that are just hilarious, but they come out of nowhere, and leave just as quickly. When watching this movie you get the feeling that you aren't getting the full story. The whole movie seems to be an inside joke that only those who read the book will ever understand. That being said, I still want to read the book. The surrealism and cinematography are truly impressive and this leads me to believe that the book probably has a great vision. This movie just does not do it justice.

Overall it has interesting characters, moments of creativity, rare moments of hilarity, but misses the target as a movie. The only people who will enjoy this film are those who read the book. because they will be able to fill in all the depth and details that the movie is lacking.