Kisner takes on the latest and extremely divisive Inherent Vice.
 |
| "I'm really gonna freak people out and tell them that I'm starting a rap career. What do you think? Good idea? |
Sometimes there are films where all the pieces don’t quite
fit together. It’s like a completed puzzle that got left on the dining room
table—someone bumps the table and a few pieces get knocked out of place. The picture
is still discernable but it’s now incomplete. Paul Thomas Anderson’s film, Inherent Vice, is one such movie. The
quickest way to get to a destination is in a straight line, but that can also
be the most boring and pedestrian way. Wouldn’t it be more intriguing to
meander around a bit and take in the sights and the sounds? Only squares go the
direct route anyway, man.
Inherent Vice is
based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon, a writer who is known for occasionally
having an almost incomprehensible writing style. Pynchon writes stream-of-consciousness
with rapid fire dialogue and a tendency to jump around in the storyline. This
sounds pretentious, but in reality, he is a master of mixing beautiful
prose-caliber writing with hilarious low-brow fart and sex jokes. He comes off
as an educated everyman and it makes his work more approachable and endearing.
I was always under the impression that anything he wrote would be impossible to
adapt to film, but Anderson has proven me wrong.
The movie follows the adventures of private investigator Larry
"Doc" Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) as he tries to find his
ex-girlfriend’s missing sugar daddy-turned-boyfriend. It’s the 1970’s and Doc is a weed-smoking
dirty hippy, which makes it a bit harder for him to gain any sort of leads into
the case. We wade through all of his bizarre encounters as he floats in a cloud
of smoke trying to find his way through the haze and complicated situations. The
plot is convoluted at times and just as it is in the book, the audience is
dropped into various scenes with no explanation. It’s a haphazard sensation and
some might feel uneasy without the tether they are used to having in more
traditional films.
 |
| "And after I rap for a while, I'm gonna act really weird and confused. After that, it's time to piss off Letterman. Good idea?" |
Doc works with a straight-laced detective named “Bigfoot”,
played by a severe flat-top haircut sporting Josh Brolin. His performance is
one of the best in the film, and he nails the deadpan asshole shtick perfectly.
He is the perfect antithesis to Phoenix’s goofy, befuddled and loose
interpretation of Doc. Much of the movie
is spent with Phoenix furrowing his brow in confusion as he lazily smokes a
joint or picks his toenails, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. It
might even mirror the reaction of some of the viewers of this film.
People who aren’t familiar with Pynchon’s work will be
surprised by how absolutely hilarious and downright filthy his writing is. Imagine
an author who has the ability to write like William Faulkner but with the dirty
mind of Charles Bukowski and you will have an idea of what the experience is
like. Inherent Vice is droll, absurd
(there is some slapstick humor thrown in) and downright wacky at times. There are a few scenes that had me laughing like
an idiot. It’s obvious Anderson had fun making this film and didn’t take it too
seriously. Everything has a leisurely feel to it and it moves along at a slow
pace. At two-and-a-half hours the length is on par with his previous films.
 |
| "Or maybe I'll just take up smoking. Good idea?" |
The look of the film is great and it captures the 1970’s era
perfectly. It has a desaturated color palette
that makes it look like a made-for-TV film, but not in a cheap way. The cinematography and lighting are at
Anderson’s usual impeccable standards and he makes good use of slow motion for
a few important scenes. The soundtrack
and score are absolutely wonderful. The
incidental music is interesting because it uses fuzzy guitar, bass, and
keyboard synth to make that iconic ‘70s sound, but modern style arrangements
and chord progressions. There are loads
of famous songs rounding out the rest of the soundtrack. I find that Anderson’s films always have
interesting musical choices and scores—Inherent
Vice is no different.
While I don’t think this is the best film in Anderson’s
filmography, it is the best (and only) adaptation of Pynchon’s writing. The style and atmosphere are perfect and it
captures the frantic genius that is that Thomas Pynchon. Maybe someone will go for broke and try to
adapt Gravity’s Rainbow next and
really blow some freaking minds.
-Michelle Kisner