By: Robert Murphy
You know that feeling, when you sit down to watch a movie and you have some idea what to expect from it? Well, Inherent Vice is one of those movies that will take your expectation and throw them right out the window. Based off of the similarly titled book, Inherent Vice tells the story of local private investigator Larry "Doc" Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix), who has a bit of a reputation along the sandy streets of fictional Gordita Beach. This pot smoking/hippy investigator is put on a new case by his former girlfriend, Shasta Hepworth (Katherine Waterstone), to find her new rich boyfriend, Mickey Wolfmann (Eric Roberts), who has gone mysteriously gone missing. What else is a man to do but except the case from the long lost love of his past, rolling up another joint and putting on his sandy beach hate, Doc sets out to find real estate shark Mickey Wolfmann but it won't prove to be all that easy as clues from the most unlikely of places pie up around him and you begin to get the feeling that he may be in over his head.
This 1970's mystery or rather comedy or maybe it was a spy story, I'm not sure which Inherent Vice was by the end of it. Whatever the case, the story is less about plot and more about the ride and experience, that cliche sort of notion you would expect a free will hippy movie to express. But, it really is the sort of feeling you get as you watch Doc set out on his way after his ex's missing boyfriend that may have gone missing due to foul play from his wife and her young boyfriend. As he roams the streets though, he meets some of the strangest people you would ever expect to meet and clues to his missing person link to various other cases he gets set out on along the way. Spies, backstabbers, drug smugglers and even prostitutes will all help Doc on his way in a tangled web of lies and a mystery that still has me scratching my head hours after I watched it. Whether it be from the faceless organization known as the Golden Fang or from alleged narc for the FBI, Coy Harlingen (Owen Wilson), who somehow in his years of saxophone ended up stuck watching a freedom group for the feds.
Other key clues to Doc's little mystery come from the love/hate relationship with the closest thing he has to a partner, Detective Bjornsen (Josh Brolin), who is referred to by Doc as "Bigfoot." The detective though is really no good friend of Doc's and appears repeatedly in the story due to the intersecting moments of Doc's and his investigations. Bigfoot however is one of my favorite character for Inherent Vice despite his liberal rights violating approach to his job and those around him. He is the perfect opposite to Doc and his attitude and this makes Doc's character even more light and funny especially when the two of them interact. A favorite moment of mine occurs when the two meet up at a local diner to talk about their case and Doc proves to be quite a capable mind despite his many years spent living in a cloud of pout smoke. You almost might think that he use to be a cop himself but his free spirit and lack of hygiene probably kept that from happening.
This bringing me to my next point which is, I loved Joaquin Phoenix and his portrayal as private eye Doc Sportello. The Doc character feels like something right out of a cartoon and is played much in the same way, right down to the way he saunters around town, gathering clues and dressing in different disguises. It's almost like a mix of the madness/genius of Jacques Clouseau and The Master of Disguise were brought together and Joaquin's wide eyed adaptation brings all together. There were moments where I questioned if the character just makes it up as he goes along or if he really was some sort of fractured genius whose just eccentric. But whatever it was, I thoroughly enjoyed watching along while he "solves" the case, one clue leading him to the next, moving him forward on his journey through this strange era of American history.
The hazy and drug trip riddled plot of Inherent Vice makes you wonder just how much any of what goes on during the story is real or if it is all a delusion dreamed up by the thick layer of pot smock left inside Doc's brain. But, even if that were the case I still would have loved Inherent Vice, it has a grungy and dirty feel that makes it seem so genuine and real with it's storytelling. Add on top of that, the 1970's were such a rich time and was filled with paranoia, pot heads, hippies, freedom fighters, civil rights movements and just so many other mixing ideas, it's a dizzying cocktail to say the least and most every aspect of this gets shown here.
In conclusion, Inherent Vice may not have a clear cut and "cased closed" feel to it by the time you see the credits roll but the ride sure was an interesting one that won't have you complaining much about it. I personally want a few more watches with the movie to see if I can gleam anything more from another go around with the story and I think some of you out there may feel the same way. There really is a whole lot to take in as you're watching and as you try your best to soak it all in, the movie ends and you craving it again or scratching your brain wanting to figure one or two things out. It's this rich and crazy story that makes you hungry for another piece and that's what makes Inherent Vice something special.
Other key clues to Doc's little mystery come from the love/hate relationship with the closest thing he has to a partner, Detective Bjornsen (Josh Brolin), who is referred to by Doc as "Bigfoot." The detective though is really no good friend of Doc's and appears repeatedly in the story due to the intersecting moments of Doc's and his investigations. Bigfoot however is one of my favorite character for Inherent Vice despite his liberal rights violating approach to his job and those around him. He is the perfect opposite to Doc and his attitude and this makes Doc's character even more light and funny especially when the two of them interact. A favorite moment of mine occurs when the two meet up at a local diner to talk about their case and Doc proves to be quite a capable mind despite his many years spent living in a cloud of pout smoke. You almost might think that he use to be a cop himself but his free spirit and lack of hygiene probably kept that from happening.
This bringing me to my next point which is, I loved Joaquin Phoenix and his portrayal as private eye Doc Sportello. The Doc character feels like something right out of a cartoon and is played much in the same way, right down to the way he saunters around town, gathering clues and dressing in different disguises. It's almost like a mix of the madness/genius of Jacques Clouseau and The Master of Disguise were brought together and Joaquin's wide eyed adaptation brings all together. There were moments where I questioned if the character just makes it up as he goes along or if he really was some sort of fractured genius whose just eccentric. But whatever it was, I thoroughly enjoyed watching along while he "solves" the case, one clue leading him to the next, moving him forward on his journey through this strange era of American history.
The hazy and drug trip riddled plot of Inherent Vice makes you wonder just how much any of what goes on during the story is real or if it is all a delusion dreamed up by the thick layer of pot smock left inside Doc's brain. But, even if that were the case I still would have loved Inherent Vice, it has a grungy and dirty feel that makes it seem so genuine and real with it's storytelling. Add on top of that, the 1970's were such a rich time and was filled with paranoia, pot heads, hippies, freedom fighters, civil rights movements and just so many other mixing ideas, it's a dizzying cocktail to say the least and most every aspect of this gets shown here.
Good:
- The performance as Doc by Joaquin Phoenix is top notch
- Supporting characters such as Josh Brolin and Owen Wilson also deliver solid performances
- A movie that begs to be watched again and again just so you can try and get some sort of closure that probably won't come, there's just so much and it's a really rich story
Bad:
- The heavy mixture may not be for everyone, some will undoubtedly criticize the lack of an "ending" that I thoroughly enjoyed
Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10
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