Paul Thomas Anderson ("There Will Be Blood," "Boogie Nights," "The Master") has a knack for movies about men in the dying light of their era.
"Inherent Vice" is about "Doc" Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix), a pothead P.I. in southern California at the start of the 1970s, stubbornly hippie as culture leaves him behind. "Vice" is very much rooted in the perpetually paranoid perspective of Sportello, who doesn't follow leads so much as he shambles from mystery to mystery with questionable coherence. Although filled with sight gags and great performances, "Vice" is the sort of movie that requires two hours of uninterrupted attention; maybe four to allow a second watch. But it's a rewarding experience from a modern master.
Fans of Phoenix will be intensely pleased by his performance here. His haphazard walk, his slurred speech, his awkward confusion; it's slapstick-done-stoner in a way that invokes the Dude much more than "Reefer Madness." Sportello's a lover, not a hater. His adventure is set by the appearance of his ex-girlfriend Shasta Fey Hepworth (Katherine Waterston), and his life with her hangs heavy in his thoughts. She weaves in and out of the story. Her persona, versus his idolatry of her, is as out-of-focus as the rest of the movie.
"Vice" is disorienting by design. Sportello's adventure features three interlocking "cases," each initially about missing men. The problem is that Sportello's a pretty lousy detective. Mysteries are furthered, only to fall to the background just as quickly. The plot diverges on and on. It's a mystery movie about a bad detective. He meets plenty of wacky characters along the way, including Owen Wilson (a lost heroin addict), Reese Witherspoon (an uptight D.A. sleeping with Sportello), Josh Brolin (an L.A.P.D. officer with ties to Sportello), Benecio Del Toro (Sportello's lawyer and friend), Jena Malone (the aforementioned heroin addict's wife). It's a lot to follow. Some of the characters don't necessarily contribute to the wider plot at hand. Fundamentally, though, "Inherent Vice" is about Sportello, his world and his perception of it. Through that lens, the intentionally convoluted story works.
It's hard to say whether or not "Inherent Vice" will work for everyone. In many ways, it is the next step in Paul Thomas Anderson's descent into stylish doldrums; "There Will Be Blood" and "The Master" were both brilliant character pieces that bordered on boring. "Vice" is more entertaining, more humorous than the previous efforts, but those elements are balanced by the strangeness of its plotting. Promotional materials made it sound like another "Big Lebowski," but it's much more the antithesis of that film. While they're both send-ups of shaggy dog detective tales, "Lebowski" is all about telling a mystery that ultimately doesn't matter. "Vice" is about a mystery that ultimately does exist, we're just not sure what to make of it in the telling. The crossover audience is probably slim.
Fans of Paul Thomas Anderson's previous work, or well-told, offbeat detective tales will find a lot to love about "Inherent Vice." But it's not a casual rental or a conventional tale. Very much recommended, but give it space to sink in. Engage with Sportello.
Far out, man.