Inherent Vice (2014)

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nTitle: Inherent Vice (2014)

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nDirector: Paul Thomas Anderson

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nCast: Joaquin Phoenix , Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro,nMartin Short, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Katherine Waterston, EricnRoberts, Maya Rudolph

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nPaul Thomas Anderson is one of those film directors whonnever miss; he’s on my “pitch perfect directors” list, right next to AlejandronGonzalez Inarritu and Stanley Kubrick. These are directors who never disappointnme, even when they’re making one of their lesser films. Boogie Nights (1997)?nThere Will Be Blood (2007)? Punch Drunk Love (2002)? All amazing and engrossing PaulnThomas Anderson films; interesting part is that they are all vastly differentnfilms thematically and tone wise, yet one thing brings them together: they allnhave strong main characters, which I think is what Anderson specializes in,nmaking films with strong, driven characters who will leave a lasting impressionnon you. He distills the most amazing performances from his actors, and he’sndone it yet again in Inherent Vice. Anderson has created yet another memorablencharacter in the form of ‘Doc Larry Sportello’. Inherent Vice gives us an amazingncollaboration between actor, author and filmmaker, the result is a film withnthe makings of a bona fide cult classic.

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nNow I haven’t read Pynchon’s Inherent Vice (I’ll bencorrecting that soon) so I literally didn’t know what to expect from this film.nI’d read a few reviews that said that the film has an incomprehensiblenstory,  others said it was their leastnfavorite Paul Thomas Anderson film, others would praise it as the next Fear andLoathing in Las Vegas (1998), all these opposing views got me all fired up tonsee Inherent Vice. On which side would I fall on? Something told me I’d lovenit, it had all the indicators of awesomeness.  I was expecting a convoluted lovable mess,nwhich is I think a good way to describe this film. So yeah, this is anpolarizing film, it will divide audiences, some will love it to death (like me)nsome will leave the film feeling like they just smoked a doobie. While I watchednit, a woman behind me said “I don’t get it”, the visceral reply in my mind was “younidiot!”, in the real world, I couldn’t help letting out an involuntary giggle.nThis personal anecdote best exemplifies what will surely happen in any givenntheater with this movie.   

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nI don’t blame anybody for not “getting it”, this movie cannbe confusing. Characters keep popping up and the story seems to twist and twistnwith every coming scene, which is the way it’s supposed to be. I think the bestnway I can describe the experience of watching this film is like reading a ChucknPalahniuk novel. Excuse me for my literary comparison, but it’s the first thingnthat popped into my mind while watching this movie. You see, in my experience,nwhen I start reading a Chuck Palahniuk book (he’s the author of Fight Club andnChoke) I always feel a little lost. Each chapter starts a littlenincomprehensible, but as you read on things get clearer and clearer, by thenending of the chapter, poof, everything makes perfect sense. This is hownInherent Vice unfolds. When the film ends you’ll feel that it really wasn’t asnconfusing as you had thought, suddenly everything clicks! But ultimately, I guess what this film must really capture is the experience of reading Thomas Pynchon’s book, which I haven’t done yet. I guess Palahniuk and Pynchon come from the similar literary universe. But here’s a trick tonenjoying this movie, don’t try to follow it so much, simply enjoy the crazyncharacters and situations, because I think that’s really what this movie isnabout, experiencing the crazy ass moments that unfold and the visuals, which are entertaining andnbeautiful to look at.

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nPaul Thomas Anderson drew inspiration from many places tonmake this film, aside from Thomas Pynchon’s novel, Anderson has stated that Inherent Vice has a little bit of GilbertnShelton’s ‘The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers’ an underground comic from then70’s and the Cheech and Chong movies. Inherent Vice can be categorized as anStoner Film, though I wouldn’t recommend watching it stoned, it will only messnwith your chances of “getting it”, the movie is already trippy enough as it is!nWith the character of Doc Sportello, we get yet another memorable cinematicnstoner, ranking right up there with Cheech and Chong, ‘The Dude’ and JeffnSpicoli. Doc Sportello is smoking weed literally throughout the entire film,nand you’ll feel that haziness, you’ll feel that care free who gives a shit vibenin Inherent Vice. In many ways, this is the ultimate stoner film. But like somenof the Cheech and Chong movies, cocaine use also works its way into the story.nIn fact, if there are two movies that Inherent Vice shares its DNA with it’snFear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) and The Big Lebowski (1998). Fear andnLoathing because of its constant drug use and overall trippy vibe and The BignLebowski because Doc Sportello feels like The Dudes long lost brother. 

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nA distinctive quality of Inherent Vice is how accuratelynPaul Thomas Anderson managed to capture that counter culture vibe from the 70’snwhere everyone was always high, had long hair, wore shades at all times, a timenwhen everyone gathered around to philosophize, everyone believed in “goodnvibes” and in Ouija boards. I loved that whole relaxed breezy vibe the filmnelicits. There are scenes that take place in beach side communities filled withnhippies and beautiful sunsets…loved that whole sit back and relax vibe that isna constant throughout the whole film. You will be transported to the 70’s, annera that Paul Thomas Anderson is apparently obsessed with; he also brought it tonlife to perfection in Boogie Nights (1997), one of Anderson’s best films. Innfact, Anderson is so 70’s he even shot Inherent Vice on film! Personally, Inimmediately noticed the difference in look, there’s something about films shotnon film. The images look so much better, the colors have richness; thendefinition is far superior than anything shot on digital. I am forever in love withnfilms shot on actual film. Tarantino and Anderson are both on my good side fornstill doing it. 

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nAnderson is one of those “serious” directors, even when he’snfilms are funny, they are somehow disturbing. I mean, look at Punch Drunk Loven(2002). There’s no doubt the film is hilarious, but it’s not slapstick, har harnhar slap on your knees funny, it’s dark, twisted funny. The main character is ancomplete anti-social nut job! The same can be said of Inherent Vice, it’s andark sort of funny. You see this movie is about sex, drugs and hedonism. Thenmovie will be hilarious, but only to those who enjoy black, acid comedies thatnare funny because of how fucked up the situations are. What type of comedy am Intalking about here? Well, for example, there’s this moment in which Doc Sportellonvisits a spiritual retreat in which everyone’s tripping out on some sort of high; a commune for spiritual trippers. At one point, someone orders a bunch of pizaas andnas the camera pans back we start seeing how the scene resembles Davinci’s ‘The LastnSupper’ with Sportello as Jesus, and pizzas instead of bread and wine and it’s just hilarious! Again, this scene will probably be hilariousnto a select few. Side note, I’m going to give this movie the award for “sexiestnscene of the year” and the scene I’m referring to is a scene with the beautifulnKatherine Waterston seducing Doc Sportello, holy moly, what an erotic scene.nMade me shiver with antici…pation! So anyhow, final words are this movie isnawesome for the many reasons stated above, the awesome cast, which peppers the film with awesome little moments acted out by great actors. Keep your eyes open for Martin Short. But again, this film is made for anselect audience, it will not appeal to everyone. Which group will you fallnunder?

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nRating: 5 out of 5 

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