Inherent Vice (2014)

I warmed up for Licorice Pizza by picking a Paul Thomas Anderson film at random from his back catalogue to watch, and since I’d last seen Inherent Vice, I’d gone back and read Thomas Pynchon’s source novel. I really enjoyed Inherent Vice on first viewing, but having not read the novel at the time was slightly confused as to why the official trailer depicted it as an out and out comedy. The novel doesn’t make sense, deliberately so, as we follow stoner private investigator Doc who is visited by his former girlfriend because she thinks her current lovers wife might be trying to institutionalize him. Yes, it’s not the easiest film to follow at the best of times. However, it does make more sense after reading the novel; not in the sense that it’s easily decipherable, but more in the way of being able to see exactly what Anderson was working from. Joaquin Phoenix, Katherine Waterston and Josh Brolin are all on fantastic form as the main trio of characters, and Anderson (even more than usual) allows you to inhale the atmosphere of 1970’s Los Angeles. It’s not one that would traditionally appear on a list of Anderson’s finest films, but it’s unquestionably impressive, and certainly one that I look forward to going back and revisiting once again at some point, a view not shared by many I’ve spoken to about it. 7.9/10