Review: Inherent Vice

After the weed smoke disappears out of a window into the sun glow of a California afternoon, what will be remembered of Doc and the rambling nature of Paul Thomas Anderson's newest gaze at American masculinity? Only time can tell and after having only watched Inherent Vice once I feel the need to reserve deeper readings of the film.

That being said, Inherent Vice is a fantastically crafted neo-noir comedy with a sour sense for nostalgia. The film is a drug film, however despite the copious amounts of weed smoked by main P.I. Doc the drug is nostalgia. Nostalgia in the film is for the way things used to be or at least how we remember them. The films two main men, Doc and Bigfoot (Josh Brolin), are caught in a wave of change they don't want.

Inherent Vice is aimless in a curiously beautiful way. While the main case Doc is working on hardly matters, something akin to the mystery in The Big Lebowski, the film still follows a logic from scene to scene. What emerges among the hazy storyline is a portrait of these two men. Doc and Bigfoot may be two versions of the same man. Anderson keeps returning to the two of them exchanging dialogue about how things have changed. The two have the central love affair, as comically manifested in the running chocolate banana joke in the film.

I have tried to avoid focusing on what happens in the film. I think that plot is secondary to the mood and overall curdled nostalgia the film drums up. The film, like his previous The Master, requires more than one viewing to even begin to get at all that is at play in this dense and meticulously crafted film. It's all the more impressive that the film feels as loose and drug-induced as it does.

The ensemble cast is flawless but a special mention must be made of Martin Short. His scene is so brief but unforgettable. Inherent Vice often feels like a pastiche of great scenes rather than a great movie. I will need to see it again to tell exactly the difference and where the film falls. Go in without to much attention on the plot. Smoke up and tune out.

5/5