Josh Brolin fingering his closed fist is just one of many memorable scenes within Inherent Vice, Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest mind melting, cinematic outing. While not as out there as The Master, Inherent Vice is still, well, keeping in tone with the usual unmainstreamness of Anderson’s work. That’s not a bad thing, far from it. But for everyday audiences they’ll certainly be scratching their head on more than one occasion.
Arguably, Anderson doesn’t make movies for mainstream audiences. While his casting decisions involve big heavyweight names (Daniel Day-Lewis in There will be blood), their performances while great are far from what mainstream cinema attending folk are more acquainted to.
In a rather brilliantly realised 70s Los Angeles, complete with real old school beer cans, detective Larry Doc Sportello investigates the disappearance of a former girlfriend. Straight forward enough, but Anderson spins a web of convolution with many meandering, twists and turns. However, while the movie demands your complete attention, at the same time you just need to switch off and let this mesmerize you. And that’s the problem with Inherent Vice. It’s too demanding and the more you try and figure out just what the fuck is going on, the more your brain will start to spill out through your nose.
There is a great ensemble cast here, with a powerful and at times hilarious performance from Joaquin Phoenix. It’s hard to spot the actor here as his performance is genuinely hypnotic, as he seems to completely immerse himself in the role. An inspired supporting cast also are completely convincing with Josh Brolin in particular looking like he had an absolute blast here.
However, good cast aside, Inherent Vice is a difficult movie to watch. Not for the content, or it’s brilliant visuals, but Anderson direction and style is a very acquired taste. It’s like he took the style and story from a Tarantino script and skull fucked it to death. It’s overly complicated and make no mistake about it this is a Paul Thomas Anderson movie, but you shouldn’t need a manual on how to watch it.
Far from the masterpiece it’s been made out to be elsewhere, Inherent Vice is an experience, albeit one that is for very acquired tastes. In parts it’s very contrived and dragged out, but the moments of brilliance from Brolin and Phoenix make it just about tolerable. And you won’t get a pussy eater special for $14.95 anywhere else.
