Inherent Vice is more of an Incoherent Mess

Inherent Vice is pretty much incomprehensible and I have little doubt that’s exactly what Paul Thomas Anderson intended when he set out to adapt Thomas Pynchon’s novel of the same name. Sadly, this doesn’t make it any less of an endurance test to watch, which is unfortunate considering the talent both in front of and behind the camera. Sporadically funny and occasionally intriguing, but not consistent enough in either category to merit a high recommendation, Inherent Vice is a major disappointment from one of the finest American filmmakers of this day and age.

Joaquin Phoenix is the guiding force through this nonsense as Larry ‘Doc’ Sportello. Doc is a private detective for hire in the early seventies. His world is turned upside down when his ex-girlfriend Shasta (the beautiful Katherine Waterston) stops by to ask for a favor. Something about her new lover’s wife trying to commit the guy to an insane asylum. Doc agrees and is plunged into a whirlwind labyrinth of a plot, chock-full-o’ countless characters and situations that never gel into a coherent whole.

At the very least the cast is great. As I mentioned previously, Phoenix is a revelation, per usual. Whatever charm and enjoyment can be derived from this dull film is mostly thanks to his hilarious performance. Josh Brolin is another standout as a Detective who tries to get Doc to function as an informant for the LAPD.

Doc’s state of mind is a perpetual haze, exacerbated by his non-stop pot smoking, and it’s clear P.T. Anderson wants the audience to feel the same way. I get it. We’re supposed to be in a constant state of confusion. That doesn’t excuse how boring the movie is. The whole thing feels like Anderson’s answer to the Coen Brothers’ masterful The Big Lebowski, but without the consistent laughs or the strong screenplay and characters. At 150 minutes, Inherent Vice gets real old real fast and it throws so many plots and extraneous characters at the audience that you’re almost guaranteed to never ever care about anything that’s happening.

FINAL RATING: 2.5/5