Inherent Vice
2014
**½
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio del Toro, Jena Malone, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Joanna Newsom, Eric Roberts, Michael K. Williams
It's 1970 in Los Angeles. Larry "Doc" Sportello is a full-time stoner and part-time private investigator. Doc's ex-girlfriend, who is dating a wealthy real estate mogul, suspects that the man's wife and her lover are planning to have him committed to a mental hospital. Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's 2009 novel follows in the footsteps of Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye. It's a laid-back mood piece where the journey is more important than the destination. Unfortunately, the journey is far too long and occasionally boring. The film looks and sounds terrific, though.
