Jack and I laughed long and hard at the comedic adventures of a stoned 1970 private investigator doing a favor for an ex-girlfriend in southern California. Colorful, wild, and sexually explicit, it's not for everyone. Many friends back in the day were entranced by the work of novelist Thomas Pynchon: V (1963), The Crying of Lot 49 (1966), and Gravity's Rainbow (1973). I didn't have the stamina to get through them. Jack, however, began reading Inherent Vice (2009) shortly before we saw the movie Friday and said he was liking it.
Joaquin Phoenix (last blogged in The Immigrant) and Josh Brolin (most recently in Labor Day) are wonderful as P.I. Doc Sportello and crazy police detective "Bigfoot," respectively. Katherine Waterston (real-life daughter of Sam, played the sister of man-without-a-face Richard on season four of Boardwalk Empire, and has been in several movies that I've seen but didn't remember her) is the comely ex-girlfriend Shasta and Reese Witherspoon (last in Wild) plays deputy district attorney Penny who's having an affair with Doc.
There are new characters introduced all the way through the movie, which made it a little hard to keep track. The movie's narrator is a character named Sortilège and I never did figure out who she is. Doc's current girlfriend? Best friend? The actress is musician Joanna Newsom, Andy Samberg's wife. Notable cameos include Maya Rudolph (real life partner of the director--this is the first time she's been in one of his movies; during one of her scenes a song by her mother Minnie Riperton is playing in the background; most recently in these pages in The Way Way Back), Owen Wilson (I left him out of my post on The Grand Budapest Hotel; before that he was in The Big Year), Eric Roberts (372 credits with dozens upcoming), Benicio Del Toro (last in Savages), Martin Short (my favorites of his characters are Ed Grimley on SNL, Ned on ¡Three Amigos! (1986), the wedding planner on Father of the Bride (1991 and the sequel in 1995), Lionel Dillard in Mumford (1999), and the voice of the Jester in Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (2013) which I should probably write about one day but it came and went so quickly!), Timothy Simons (who plays "shut-the-f***-up-Jonah" in Veep), Jena Malone (started as a child actress, last blogged in The Messenger) talking very dirty here, and, my personal favorite, Jeannie Berlin (daughter of Elaine May, known best for The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York (1975)) in kabuki makeup early on.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson (most recently made The Master) adapted the novel for the screen with the approval of the author, and it's the first time one of Pynchon's books has been filmed.
Joaquin Phoenix (last blogged in The Immigrant) and Josh Brolin (most recently in Labor Day) are wonderful as P.I. Doc Sportello and crazy police detective "Bigfoot," respectively. Katherine Waterston (real-life daughter of Sam, played the sister of man-without-a-face Richard on season four of Boardwalk Empire, and has been in several movies that I've seen but didn't remember her) is the comely ex-girlfriend Shasta and Reese Witherspoon (last in Wild) plays deputy district attorney Penny who's having an affair with Doc.
There are new characters introduced all the way through the movie, which made it a little hard to keep track. The movie's narrator is a character named Sortilège and I never did figure out who she is. Doc's current girlfriend? Best friend? The actress is musician Joanna Newsom, Andy Samberg's wife. Notable cameos include Maya Rudolph (real life partner of the director--this is the first time she's been in one of his movies; during one of her scenes a song by her mother Minnie Riperton is playing in the background; most recently in these pages in The Way Way Back), Owen Wilson (I left him out of my post on The Grand Budapest Hotel; before that he was in The Big Year), Eric Roberts (372 credits with dozens upcoming), Benicio Del Toro (last in Savages), Martin Short (my favorites of his characters are Ed Grimley on SNL, Ned on ¡Three Amigos! (1986), the wedding planner on Father of the Bride (1991 and the sequel in 1995), Lionel Dillard in Mumford (1999), and the voice of the Jester in Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (2013) which I should probably write about one day but it came and went so quickly!), Timothy Simons (who plays "shut-the-f***-up-Jonah" in Veep), Jena Malone (started as a child actress, last blogged in The Messenger) talking very dirty here, and, my personal favorite, Jeannie Berlin (daughter of Elaine May, known best for The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York (1975)) in kabuki makeup early on.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson (most recently made The Master) adapted the novel for the screen with the approval of the author, and it's the first time one of Pynchon's books has been filmed.
Great picture cars, set dressing, wardrobe, and beach locations. And that music! The soundtrack is a mix of songs composed by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and tunes from the era. It's widely available on Spotify but the commercials are annoying, so I suggest this youtube playlist instead. To hear only the non-Greenwood songs, try this link.
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes average 69% and its audiences a limp 58. You can self-select by watching this trailer or that one. If you enjoy them and don't mind some dirty talk and lewdness, you'll like it as much as we did.
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes average 69% and its audiences a limp 58. You can self-select by watching this trailer or that one. If you enjoy them and don't mind some dirty talk and lewdness, you'll like it as much as we did.
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