the fresh films reviews

S I N C E   1 9 9 7










 

 

Inherent Vice (2014)

Director:
Paul Thomas Anderson

COUNTRY
USA

Genre
Crime/Mystery

NORWEGIAN TITLE
Inherent Vice

RUNNING TIME
150 minutes

Producers:
JoAnne Sellar
Daniel Lupi
Paul Thomas Anderson

Screenwriters:
Paul Thomas Anderson


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING

Larry "Doc" Sportello

Joaquin Phoenix ½
Lieutenant "Bigfoot" Bjornsen Josh Brolin

Coy Harlingen

Owen Wilson -

Shasta Fay Hepworth

Katherine Waterston ½

Deputy District Attorney Penny Kimball

Reese Witherspoon -

Sauncho Similax, Esq.

Benicio del Toro -
Hope Harlingen Jena Malone -

Sortilège

Joanna Newsom -

Petunia Leeway

Maya Rudolph -

Tariq Khalil

Michael Kenneth Williams -

Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd, D.D.S.

Martin Short -

Japonica Fenway

Sasha Pieterse -

Crocker Fenway

Martin Donovan -

Michael Z. "Mickey" Wolfmann

Eric Roberts -

 

Review

Paul Thomas Anderson’s take on the seedy underground world of corruption, drugs and sex cults in the 1970s is irreverently stylized. For the average viewer, this isn’t exactly nostalgia, even if I suspect it was for Anderson. Joaquin Phoenix plays a pot-smoking private eye who doesn’t investigate cases as much as he stumbles upon them. Following his journey is like playing a cinematic video game: New characters keep popping out of nowhere, and it’s up to you to decide whether they’re there to further the story or simply to add spice. Anderson creates a shell of a 1970s atmosphere and populates it with obscured plot devices. The mystery is the mystery; it is not borne out of anything but itself. Still, the picture has a certain introspective, illusory allure. With its exclusively idiosyncratic characters and environments, which are constantly fascinating and sometimes hilarious, it keeps you watching if not exactly engaged.

Copyright © 27.05.2022 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

[HAVE YOUR SAY]
[BACK TO INDEX]