Inherent Vice (2014) Review

“Did I hit you?”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

We all know that confronting the past can give us all closure but if it comes to you first, the journey is indeed unpredictable.


PLOT


Based on Thomas Pynchon's 2009 novel, 2014’s Inherent Vice takes place in 1970 Los Angeles County and follows hippie private investigator, Larry 'Doc' Sportello. Narrated by Joanna Newsom, the story follows Doc reunite with his ex girlfriend Shasta Fay Hapworth. She reaches out to him to look for Mickey Wolfmann, a real estate developer she has been seeing, who has gone missing. She believes his wife Sloane (Serena Scott Thomas) and her lover Riggs (Andrew Simpson) plan to commit him to a mental asylum. As he begins his investigation the next day, he meets a Black Guerilla member named Tariq Khalil (Michael K Williams) who shares that an Aryan he knew in jail named Glen Charlton owes him money and knows he's a bodyguard to Wolfmann. He looks for him at Mickey's Channel View Estates Project where the only business working at the developed strip mall is a massage parlor. That is where he meets an employee named Jade and when looking further, he gets knocked unconscious. When waking up, he's found next to Charlton's body with a gun and surrounded by policeman, led by detective Christian 'Bigfoot' Bjornsen. When brought in, the detective questions his involvement while revealing Wolfmann and Shasta have both vanished. Luckily, Doc is released thanks to the help of his attorney Sauncho Smilax. Following the release, he is contacted by Hope Harlingen, who seeks help looking for her missing husband Coy. Although those close presume him to be dead, she believes he's still alive due to a huge deposit being left in a bank account. Doc is then questioned by the FBI of his meeting with Tariq, realizing they want to frame him for Charlton's death & Wolfmann's disappearance. He later runs into Jade again who warns him of the 'Golden Fang' and introduces him to Coy, who is hiding in Topanga Canyon. When seeing Sauncho again, Doc learns from him that the Golden Fang is Wolfmann's boat which is where he and Shasta were last seen; The FBI also wanted the guy to be involved in construction at Las Vegas. Doc then sees Coy again who reveals he's a police informant infiltrating a right wing militia in Vigilant California, which makes it challenging for him to return home to his wife. Jade tips him off again that the Golden Fang is also a term for a drug smuggling operation. Thanks to a postcard left by Shasta, he finds the building to be owned by dentist Rudy Blatnoyd. When checking the place out the day after, he finds the guy to be addicted to cocaine and in an affair with not only his stuff but also 18 year old runaway Japonica Fenway (Sasha Pieterse), missed dearly by her wealthy father Crocker (Martin Donovan). The day after that, Bigfoot tells him Rudy was killed with fang bites left on his neck, suspecting Coy could be connected to Puck Beaverton (Keith Jardine), another bodyguard to Wolfmann that now works for loan shark Adrian Prussia (Peter McRobbie). Doc then travels to an asylum ran by a cult connected to Golden Fang, Chryskylodon. There, not only does he encounter Puck & Coy separately, but he also finds Wolfmann committed and monitored by the FBI, revealing he felt guilty for the negativity on his business and wanted to make housing free before being brainwashed to not follow through. When returning to his beach house, Shasta returns to tell him that she was up north, admitting before Wolfmann returned to his wife, she was his insurance policy on the Golden Fang, being passed around by other members. She then undresses to have sex with him, but both agree it doesn't mean they'll get back together. The next day, Doc reaches out to a district attorney he's been seeing, Penny Kimball, asking her for confidential files. Specifically, he learns that the LAPD has been paying Adrian, fellow Golden Fang member, to kill people including Bigfoot's previous partner. He does confront him, only to get imprisoned by Puck. He does break free and kill them both in self defense, but Bigfoot appears to rescue him. In reality, he planted heroin in his car (framing him stealing from Golden Fang as revenge for his partner Vincent's death). Wanting to get out of such a pickle, he meets Crocker, another GF member that confesses to killing Rudy to save his daughter from her addiction after getting her back. Doc agrees to return all the cocaine in exchange of freeing Coy, realizing the GF runs Vigilant California. After going to the beach with Sauncho to see the GF boat get repossessed, Bigfoot breaks into his home apologizing for framing him, and storms out after devouring his entire tray of marijuana. As Doc goes out on a drive with Shasta, the film ends with them again agreeing that they're not getting back together.
THOUGHTS


If there is anything to guarantee from Paul Thomas Anderson, it is that he will make something 100% different from what he’s done before. So having seen The Master being an unorthodox tale of redemption, I would’ve not expected him to do a crime comedy and have it be an unusual amount of fun. But with his track record being so good, there was no reason for me to doubt him, thus enjoying it from top to bottom. I can easily say the costumes designed by Mark Bridges are well made and the cinematography by Robert Elswit is so magnetizing as it pulls us into an era that feels forgotten. What really brings me back a decade after I first watched it is that when you’re not pulled into confusion of insanity because I know some felt sidetracked yet amused seeing Martin Short be coked as Rudy, I feel moved with how this story tells us how much of a refuge it is to have connection with others and not having that leaves to an endless battle with our inner selves. With the world having endless conflict, it’s not so bad in helping yourself by helping others. This is the case when following Doc with each step he takes through an adventure so expansive you would need a joint to better process it. Joaquin Phoenix felt like a one man show with the ensemble he was surrounded with because that is how much of a delight he is. He is laidback as much as possible and when not, his heart remains unlimited because it’s his duty to help people. He takes his tasks all at once and one day at a time vice versa because he knows not enough people can do it with the passion they’re not noticing. The example being how Benicio Del Toro making a resourceful yet wise companion to him as Sauncho who does more than enough just like him. And Reese Witherspoon makes Penny amusing because even though she tries hard to be square, her time with Doc reminds her there’s no shame taking a step back, thus being with him as long as she has. I also enjoyed Hong Chau in her given time as Jade because even though she starts out perceptive, she’s kind enough to give Doc what he needs, instinctively knowing he means well. If he can make this kind of impact on people no matter the amount of time he knows them, that has to mean he’s doing something right. Owen Wilson still makes me smile given the environment of his character Coy, but his role is so different from others before because he’s evasive enough to protect himself and goes to Doc to get him out of his pickle because he doesn’t know what else to do. Luckily, he gets his happy ending in coming home while everyone else is questionable. Of all the supporting characters that surprised me the most, Bigfoot does it for me because Josh Brolin makes him have that ideal sternness when being an authority figure, while still feeling eccentric due to always eating frozen bananas. He has the hatred towards hippies like Doc, but mostly tolerates him because he still respects him being least corrupt compared to the Golden Fang. Considering how intense his line of work, it’s a surprise he didn’t devour a tray of weed sooner because that’s an example of being on the edge of sanity. Since he lost his partner to the corrupt, you can’t blame him for struggling where to place his anger. With things organized however, you can bet he’ll feel tense as time goes on. Last but not least, Katherine Waterston was the second batch of enigma as Shasta because she chooses to be ambiguous towards Doc, not telling him everything but enough for him to get the journey started. Considering after what she had been through, reaching out to him in the beginning was her last resort to reconnect with the past she left behind. He goes through with it because he still loves her and they were so good of a match at the time because they enjoyed living in the moment, such as how they ran out in the rain after playing with a Ouija board. Then you can call it fate for him to meet Rudy at the same place they ran to. With such a big connection, they remain on the same page of not resuming their relationship because they feel that they can’t recreate their past magic. Despite this, it doesn’t mean they won’t stop enjoying each other’s company. If they really continue to do so after what she had him unravel, I hope it makes them both content with whatever the future holds. In conclusion, Inherent Vice is another hit in PTA’s filmography for feeling so provocatively fun in more ways than one. If those are the kind of movies you’re looking for, check this out.