Inherent Vice (2014) ***

 

There are Paul Thomas Anderson movies that I have seen and loved ("Boogie Nights" “Magnolia”), ones I thought were just okay ("There Will Be Blood" "Licorice Pizza"), ones that due to their length and gravity I have been too intimidated to watch yet (“The Master”), and then there is “Inherent Vice,” which I had never heard of and had no idea was a Paul Thomas Anderson movie until after the fact. This is one that just slipped right by me back in 2014, and I was lucky enough that it just caught my eye on Netflix.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Doc Sportello, a private eye, layabout, and pothead, back in 1970 when all of those were still considered bad things to be. When an old girlfriend shows up with a case for him, it's the classic noir set-up, complete with femme fatale. Like many flawed-but-noble detectives before him, Doc explores the underbelly of southern California, stirring up a hornets nest of criminals, cops (Josh Brolin), and wacky characters (Martin Short, Owen Wilson, Benicio Del Toro).

There are a couple of things you should know about “Inherent Vice” going in. It's long, at 2h 28m, and it feels long. There is just So. Much. Plot. It's really complicated, and by the end I wasn't sure whether all the pieces had fit together or not. The film is based on the Thomas Pynchon novel of the same name, and his books are known for being long and complicated. In that sense, Paul Thomas Anderson was the perfect filmmaker to adapt it, as this sort of thing is his bag. Despite all that, the movie is an enjoyable watch. It's a good, black-comedic take on the noir detective genre. The cast is solid, and Phoenix plays Doc with a sense of humor and a heart. “Inherent Vice” deserves to be in the company of other comedic noir films like “The Big Lebowski” and 1973's “The Long Goodbye” even if it isn't as perfectly, tightly wound as those films.

3 stars out of 5