Inherent Vice (2014)

To me, this movie is perfection.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Meanders its narrative with the help of a voiceover character (Sortilege) who doesn't assist us to understand what is happening! How does she know so much? Clues to the intrigue are kept being added to by new characters continually popping in. Magnificent performance from Phoenix. Unfortunately we lose interest after the first hour, maybe because we lose track? But the intelligent direction along with the comedy (and Phoenix) are enough to keep us watching. Doesn't help us to understand the '60s though! This is The Big Sleep for the fazed-out hippie era. Well it has an LA PI, a nubile seductress, a disappearance and an unfathomable plot. May need to be re-watched to be fully appreciated.

I loved this film. A lot of people don't like this film because the plot is very confusing and hard to follow but the whole message of the film is that sometimes life doesn't wrap things up in a nice little bow and sometimes everything doesn't come together in the end. I've seen this film a few times now and I like it more everytime I see it. The first time I didn't really like it because I was trying to keep up and get my head around the plot but after I became enlightened to the theme, then I was just able to sit back and experience the journey. It is a great character study. Joaquín pheonix is fantastic and his character is great, all the characters and performances in this film are great and fun, Josh Brolin works really well and had great chemistry with Pheonix, and Martin Short was hilarious when he came into the film he was amazing. There were so many great moments and great lines scattered about like when he visits the golden fang institute. The dialogue on the whole is inconsistent as a lot of it is exposition for the plot but when it isn't that it was fantastic. This is one of the most enjoyable films because you don't need to worry about understanding the plot because you're not supposed to understand it and instead just sit back and relax. The directing is great as always from PTA, the film is really well made. My only criticisms are the film gets weaker in the last 20 mins or so and probably should've ended earlier and that some of the dialogue is just exposition. However I love this film on the whole, I love the soundtrack and the unsatisfying ending reflects the whole film, it reflects the character and how really he gets nothing done in the whole film. And it also reflects life, and how in life often things don't have satisfying endings.

The film is not making sense. It's like trying to ask the mob what's going on. Not only they won't tell you, but asking them is asking to be led anywhere but, and be fleeced. It felt like I was watching TV, not in the 70s. The jibe was off.

'Inherent Vice' is the next feature film from Paul Thomas Anderson and you can tell. It boasts a great soundtrack, brilliant acting and a very convoluted story as it tells the story of a private detective (Phoenix) as he investigates into the disappearance of a former girlfriend.The screenplay is very confusing. It is hard to follow and purposely so as it introduces many characters and multiple stories but I have heard that this aspect of the screenplay is very true to the original source material. All I could do was admit that the film was too bewildering and to enjoy the many jokes and humorous situations.Joaquin Phoenix is tremendous as the main character Larry "Doc" Sportello. He is complimented with a great supporting cast such as Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro.Overall, 'Inherent Vice' is not a typical popcorn flick and I was very confused by the overwhelming plot but it is fun and very well made and so I have given it a final rating of 3.5 stars.