Inherent Vice
Director: Paul Anderson
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson
148 mins; Class 18;
KRS Releasing Ltd

Inherent Vice is director Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of American author Thomas Pynchon’s seventh novel of the same name.

The cult author’s work is described as “legendarily inventive, culturally kaleidoscopic” and this is the first cinematic adaptation of his work.

Inherent Vice is set in the latter days of the 1960s, a gritty film noir tinged with bright California sunlight, with a private eye in a permanent dope-fuelled haze played by Joaquin Phoenix at its centre.

Doc Sportello’s (Joaquin Phoenix) ex-girlfriend visits him and spins a yarn about a plot to kidnap her billionaire land developer boyfriend and lock him up in a mental hospital.

Doc sets out to investigate, his queries leading him to a shadowy organisation known as the Golden Fang and a series of encounters with femmes fatale, dirty cops, violent thugs, ex-clients… and dentists ensues.

The story is set in Los Angeles, California at a time when the counterculture of peace, love and understanding was being replaced by a corporate culture that would soon dominate the landscape, literally and figuratively.

Vast swathes of land in the state were being taken over by land developers, while the (relatively) harmless dope culture was being overrun by large-scale and ultimately ruthless heroin and other hard drug pushers.

In the meantime, peaceful political protests became fertile ground for aggressive police behaviour and spurts of violence.

It is this sudden and seismic shift in the environment that Anderson captures so effortlessly, as Doc staggers through his investigation, soberly acknowledging the changes around him despite his semi-permanent dope-induced haze.

Each character gives rise to more questions

It is clear from the outset that this is a murky and convoluted plot that needs your full attention. The story, from a script written by Anderson, takes frequent plot twists and turns and Doc encounters myriad characters – including Owen Wilson’s surf-rock saxophonist Coy Harlingen; Josh Brolin’s police detective Christian ‘Bigfoot’ Bjornsen; Benicio Del Toro’s lawyer Sauncho Smilax; Martin Short as smarmy dentist Dr Blatnoyd, Reese Witherspoon as tough-as-nails Deputy D.A. Penny Kimball (and Doc’s sometime lover) and Eric Roberts as the supposedly imperilled real estate developer Mickey Wolfmann. These are just a handful of the characters that flit in and out of the story; some for a mere scene, others for longer.

Oftentimes it is frustratingly difficult to see where each fits in the bigger picture; each character brings more questions to the mix, many of which remain unanswered, leading to much head-scratching.

That’s not to say that Inherent Vice is in any way boring. That interest does not flag despite the complexities of the plot is also down to the overall ensemble, each of whom is very much on the top of their game.

Phoenix continues to impress in this, the latest in a serious of diverse and complex roles that has characterised his career recently. He appears in almost every scene, carrying the film on his shoulders and he completely disappears into the role of this permanently high slob of a man with his unkempt hair, elaborate sideburns, slovenly wardrobe… and dirty feet; his outward appearance belying the shrewd mind that lies beneath and gut instinct that allows him to solve the mystery bit by bit.

There is also much to appreciate visually, with astonishing attention to detail in the film’s production and costume design and the superb work from cinematographer Robert Elswit whose sunny visuals do not detract from the ‘noirish’ tone of the tale.