Inherent Vice has become one of the most highly anticipated films of early 2015, due to its all-star cast, crime/comedy caper plot and the fact that it’s directed by one of the finest American directors working today; Paul Thomas Anderson. Not to mention the fact that it’s based on a novel by one of the greatest active American writers; Thomas Pynchon. The film, like the novel, is set in 1970s Los Angeles and follows the trials and tribulations of Larry ‘Doc’ Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix), a private investigator with a penchant for marijuana.
It’s hard to accurately discern the tone of the film from the rather absurdist trailer, but it looks like it is both dark and comedic – like so much of Paul Thomas Anderson’s work. It’s interesting to note that once again the wunderkind is choosing to make a period piece (many of his previous films have been set in the mid-20th century; The Master, There Will Be Blood and Boogie Nights). The film has already polarised critics in America and what the British critical fraternity will make of it is anyone’s guess… One thing’s for sure though – Anderson’s legions of fans will be queuing round the block to see Inherent Vice.
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