“Inherent Vice,” based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon, is Paul Thomas Anderson’s wild, psychedelic take on film noir — think, “The Big Sleep” crossed with “The Big Lebowski.” The movie can be a lot of fun to watch, but it also felt emotionally distant from the proceedings.
The action takes place in 1970 Los Angeles; Anderson creates an atmosphere ripe with paranoia and pessimism. Changes in the landscape are coming; old neighborhoods are being bulldozed to make room for new housing developments. With the Manson Family murders fresh on everyone’s mind, there’s a visible fear of the counter-culture movement. At the same time, the straight-edged government types do their fair share of illegal activities.
The picture is riddled with humor that directly addresses this feeling of paranoia.
It’s been a while since Anderson has made a movie this funny. His last two efforts — “There will Be Blood” and “The Master” — while impressive in some respects, felt rigid and oppressive. With “Inherent Vice” he achieves a loose and silly vibe, similar to the one in his sophomore feature, “Boogie Nights.”
Because of the film’s scatterbrained, confusing nature, it’s somewhat difficult to give a proper plot synopsis. Even if you watch the trailer multiple times, you’ll still only get a vague sense of what’s going on.
Ex-flame Shasta Fay Hepworth (Katherine Waterston) goes to Sportello with a problem. Her new boyfriend, real-estate tycoon Michael Wolfmann (Eric Roberts), has gone missing. Before long, Sportello is investigating the disappearances of two more people, Coy Harlingen (Owen Wilson) and Hepworth herself, and comes into contact with a mysterious ship called the Golden Fang. Along the way, he runs into more past love interests and old acquaintances and has encounters with biker gangs, the police and the FBI.
Sporting a ratty, green jacket, wild and tangled hair and a pair of glorious muttonchops, Sportello’s counter-culture Phillip Marlowe is a welcomed addition to the film noir cannon. He’s definitely not the smartest — he runs his P.I. business out of a doctor’s office — and with his frequent drug use, you sometimes wonder where he gets the motivation to keep pursuing this complex case.
Still, his naïve, almost-childlike personality feels refreshing. Once in a while, we see him scribble a few notes on a notepad or look over a list of suspects on a white board, in an attempt to keep track of his work. He even combs his hair when he goes to meet people in more formal settings.
Phoenix is able to find a good balance between excessive and sincere. Sportello may act stupid and crazy, but he never becomes a total caricature. He’s the only character that can be trusted from start to finish.
And yet, as entertaining as “Inherent Vice” can be, I still found myself oddly detached from it. The movie is convoluted, and it’s easy to lose track of what’s going on. In general, film noirs — even the classic ones — usually contain convoluted plots, but by the end, everything adds up in a satisfying manner.
For all of the events that happen in the movie, the central “case” itself — as well as the various mysteries it’s made up of — feels slight and insignificant. In fact, the movie really doesn’t need to be as complex as it is. Certain side plots and characters could have been cut entirely. By the time the movie reaches its conclusion, loose ends may be tied up, but you’re unsure of why those loose ends were significant in the first place.
Unfortunately, the individual parts of “Inherent Vice” don’t quite add up to a completely satisfying whole. Furthermore, with the exception of Bjornson, the supporting characters remain relatively one-dimensional: They simply get lost in the clutter of the narrative.
While I enjoyed watching Phoenix’s dazed private eye stumble and bumble around, the ‘70s aesthetic, David Crank’s production design and the groovy soundtrack, I still can’t deny the emotional distance I felt while watching, which made it difficult for me to engage with the picture on a deeper level.