Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice

 

** ½ / ****

Reviewed by Sean Trolinder

 

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Benicio Del Toro, Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsome, Eric Roberts, Michael K. Williams, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Christopher Allen Nelson

 

 

 

            In many ways, director Paul Thomas Anderson’s style is a hybrid of Robert Altman and Martin Scorsese’s combined. Like Altman, many of Anderson’s masterpieces have ensembles (such as Boogie Nights and Magnolia). As for what Anderson borrows from Scorsese, he tends to use extensive tracking shots (such as the pool scene in Boogie Nights, when Stanley enters the TV studio in Magnolia, and when Freddie Quell walks next to the boat he sneaks upon in The Master) and long medium takes without cuts (which is a common technique used throughout There Will Be Blood and Punch-Drunk Love). Without a doubt, Paul Thomas Anderson might be the most influential and intriguing director of his generation and from my perspective, every single one of Anderson’s films (with the exception of Hard Eight) was a masterpiece, until I saw Inherent Vice. The problem with Inherent Vice is not its ensemble approach, again, a technique Anderson often uses, but there is no doubt the film is hard to follow and the screenplay is messy, mainly because it is the first adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel. With my limited experience reading Pynchon (The Crying of Lot 49 and Mason & Dixon), I’ve considered him an overrated writer and his novels are purposely convoluted to the point where they often make no sense. Regardless, I had faith that Anderson would elevate this adaptation into something memorable and worthwhile, but the characters are difficult to sympathize with and Anderson’s tracking shots and long takes are largely absent, the marks that make him an auteur. With the absence of such trademarks, it felt like the movie was not directed by Paul Thomas Anderson at all.

            The movie begins at the home of Doc Sportello (played by Joaquin Phoenix), stoned and lonely. In walks his ex-girlfriend, Shasta Fay Hepworth (played by Katherine Waterston), someone who he has not seen for a while. She claims to need his help, since she is having an affair with a real estate mogul named Mickey Wolfmann (played by Eric Roberts). Wolfmann’s wife, Sloane, is having an affair herself, or so Shasta Fay claims. Sloane and her lover want to get Shasta Fay into a plot to get Mickey assigned to a mental ward, so that they can make off with his money. Sportello is skeptical about getting involved at first, but it is obvious that he wants Shasta Fay back, so he agrees to look into what’s going on with Wolfmann. Now this is when the film gets odd and meanders, forcing the audience to wonder what is real and what is simply a hallucination by Sportello—who remains high throughout his investigation. At one point, Sportello walks through deserted land to a place called Chick Planet Massage and he is being followed by several people. In perhaps the coolest shot of the movie, Sportello enters the massage parlor (which turns out to be a prostitution ring) and the people in the background appear to either hit the ground, blending in with the dirt and sand, or simply disappearing. It is a mark on Sportello’s psychology, hinting that he could be really be followed by an obsessive cop known as “Bigfoot” (played by Josh Brolin) and his team, but again, it could be one of Sportello’s stoned hallucinations. In Chick Planet Massage, Sportello gets knocked over the head with a pan, with the next shot showing him waking up in the desert, bloodied, next to the dead boy of Glenn Charlock (played by Christopher Allen Nelson), Wolfmann’s bodyguard who is affiliated with the Aryan Brotherhood. Bigfoot and his fellow officers find him there next to Charlock. While Sportello is at the police station being questioned as a suspect in Charlock’s murder, we learn a few things—1) Bigfoot has had several run-ins with Sportello and has developed an odd obsession for the man, 2) Bigfoot hates hippies and everything they stand for, and 3) Bigfoot knows that Sportello’s Martine lawyer, Sauncho Smilax (played by Benicio Del Toro), will be there to say Bigfoot can’t charge Sportello. While leaving the police station, Sportello gets a letter from the woman at Chick Planet Massage telling him to “Beware of the Golden Fang,” which perplexes Sportello.

            The film gets convoluted and very difficult to follow when Sportello is hired by Hope Harlingen (played by Jena Malone) to find her husband, Coy Harlingen (played by Owen Wilson)—a man famous for playing the saxophone and is assumed to have died from an overdose. Hope remains convinced that Coy isn’t dead, so Sportello agrees to look into it. Though Sportello is told to beware of the Golden Fang, his curiosity becomes too much, so he tries to investigate it, leading him to a dark alley when Coy just randomly is hanging out. At this point in the film, it seems as if Anderson is playing with the audience, making us wonder if Sportello is hallucinating again. Over the course of the film, we learn more about the Golden Fang and there are many odd run-ins with Bigfoot again, Coy (again, it does not seem clear if he is really alive or a figment of Sportello’s imagination at times, until the very end), and why Sportello is obsessed with Shasta Fay. Moreover, the film gets even stranger and more complicated when Sportello convinces himself that Shasta Fay has disappeared with Wolfmann.

            Most of Anderson’s films demand second viewings and I must admit, his films do tend to get better with each time they’re revisited. However, Inherent Vice seems more concerned with trying to get Pynchon’s work right than staying faithful to Anderson’s filmmaking style. Joaquin Phoenix remains one of the best actors working today and he does the best he can making Sportello a sympathetic figure, but it was hard to take the character seriously when he remains high while investigating (again, I blame Pynchon here more than Anderson, who many claim tried to remain loyal to the source material). However, the real standout in terms of acting is Josh Brolin. In his interactions with Sportello, his own wife, and his partner, Bigfoot expresses a lot through subtle actions (such as how he eats food) and stern, yet relaxed facial expressions. Brolin tends to convey a lot more through his body language than his dialogue, which is interesting, since Bigfoot also has the best lines in the film.

            Even though Inherent Vice might be Paul Thomas Anderson’s first true misfire, he remains one of the more intriguing filmmakers of his generation. Though the acting excels at times, the convoluted source material hurts the screenplay, even though the storyline seems intriguing at first glance. Who knows, though—maybe Inherent Vice could be a better film on repeated viewings, but it certainly is not of the caliber of Magnolia, Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood, or The Master.