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Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Writer(s): Paul Thomas Anderson, Thomas Pynchon
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson
Awards: Nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published and Best Achievement in Costume Design
INHERENT VICE is the seventh feature from Paul Thomas Anderson and the first ever film adaption of a Thomas Pynchon novel. When private eye Doc Sportello’s ex-old lady suddenly out of nowhere shows up with a story about her current billionaire land developer boyfriend whom she just happens to be in love with, and a plot by his wife and her boyfriend to kidnap that billionaire and throw him in a looney bin … well, easy for her to say. It’s the tail end of the psychedelic ’60s and paranoia is running the day and Doc knows that “love” is another of those words going around at the moment, like “trip” or “groovy,” that’s being way too overused — except this one usually leads to trouble. With a cast of characters that includes surfers, hustlers, dopers and rockers, a murderous loan shark, LAPD Detectives, a tenor sax player working undercover, and a mysterious entity known as the Golden Fang, which may only be a tax dodge set up by some dentists … Part surf noir, part psychedelic romp — all Thomas Pynchon.
“INHERENT VICE unfolds so organically, so gracefully and with such humanistic grace notes that even at its most preposterous, viewers will find themselves nodding along, sharing the buzz the filmmaker has so skillfully created.” — Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
“Joaquin Phoenix and the terrific acting ensemble that joins him in this pot-infused ’70s-era beach noir create such a good buzz you can almost get a contact high from watching.” — Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times
“In its graceful superimpositions and its use of water to evoke a more idyllic time (particularly in a rainy flashback set to Neil Young), INHERENT VICE is very much a companion piece to THE MASTER.” — Ben Kenigsberg, The A.V. Club
“A hilariously louche and ramshackle psychedelic noir, INHERENT VICE is an audacious stylistic leap for Anderson, but his risks pay off beautifully. It’s an amazing work, capturing the heady vibe of Thomas Pynchon’s novel while stumbling into in the great cinematic lineage of California noir.” — Craig Williams, CineVue
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148 MIN
