Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice- 2014 
Set in 1970 Los Angeles between the Manson Family murders and Watergate, private detective Larry "Doc" Sportello takes on a case to find his missing ex-girlfriend. Imagine the noir genre of film smoking a quarter bag of pot with influences of Cheech & Chong, The Big Lebowski and Dragnet thrown in. Paul Thomas Anderson creates a period film so authentic you'd be pissed if he decided to shoot this film digitally. Thankfully he went with 35 mm. Joaquin Phoenix transforms into "Doc" proving he is one of the greatest actors today and Katherine Waterston is sexy and mysterious as Shasta, his former girlfriend. Bit parts are played by Eric Roberts, Martin Short and Owen Wilson who all play contributing factors to "Doc's" journey. Reese Witherspoon plays a tiny role as one of "Doc's" flings and they carry with them their chemistry from "Walk the Line", which she starred in with Phoenix. The real powerhouse of the movie is Josh Brolin who portrays L.A. Detective and failed actor "Bigfoot". Imagine if Jack Webb from Dragnet was entirely frustrated, angry at life and hated hippies, yet manages an alliance with the very hippy he hates. I've read that readers of Thomas Pynchon, author of the novel Inherent Vice, are delighted by the faithfulness to the source material. As a movie goer who's unfamiliar with the material, I appreciate the film for it's production and Paul Thomas Anderson's ability to squeeze every emotion from his actors. The plot and motivations are awfully confusing and are extremely hard to follow. No doubt that many of the film's images are "Doc's" hallucinations. It's possible that some of the characters are a product of "Doc's" drug abused self-conscious. Despite the confusion and choppy plot, I recommend a viewing just for the sake of film as a true art form. RATING: 3 out of 4 stars  - Chris Tarride