Inherent Vice (film)

In 1970, Shasta Fay Hepworth visits the home of her ex-boyfriend, Larry "Doc" Sportello, a private investigator and hippie in Gordita Beach, Los Angeles County. She tells him about her new lover, Michael Z. "Mickey" Wolfmann, a wealthy real estate developer, and asks him to help prevent Mickey's wife and her lover from abducting Mickey and committing him to an insane asylum. Doc meets with Tariq Khalil, a member of the Black Guerrilla Family, who hires him to find Glen Charlock, a member of the Aryan Brotherhood he met in jail, who owes him money and is one of Wolfmann's bodyguards. He visits Mickey's Channel View Estates project, entering the only business in the developing strip mall, a massage parlor, where he meets an employee, Jade. He searches the premises for Charlock but is knocked unconscious. He awakes outside, lying next to Charlock's dead body and surrounded by policemen. Interrogated by LAPD detective Christian F. "Bigfoot" Bjornsen, he learns that Wolfmann has disappeared. His attorney, Sauncho Smilax, arranges for his release by the LAPD. Doc is hired by former heroin addict Hope Harlingen, who is looking for her missing husband, Coy. Although told that Coy is dead, she believes he is alive due to a large deposit in her bank account. Doc is questioned by the FBI about his meeting with Tariq Khalil, and he discovers that they want to publicly frame Wolfmann's disappearance and Charlock's murder as the work of the Black Panthers. Jade leaves Doc a message apologizing for ambushing him with the police and telling him to "beware the Golden Fang." He meets her in an alley, where Jade introduces Doc to Coy, who tells him he is hiding at a house in Topanga Canyon. Doc talks to Sauncho, who tells him about a suspicious boat, the Golden Fang. Sauncho reveals to Doc that the FBI wanted Wolfmann to be involved in construction in Las Vegas, and the last time the Golden Fang sailed, Wolfmann was seen and Shasta was on board. In a later meeting at a party, Coy explains he is a police informant, currently infiltrating the right-wing militia Vigilant California, and fears for his life, wanting only to return to his wife and daughter. After Doc encounters Jade and leaves her at her house, she explains to Doc that the Golden Fang is an international drug smuggling operation. Thanks to a postcard from Shasta, Doc finds a large building shaped like a golden fang and meets dentist Rudy Blatnoyd. Bigfoot meets Doc in a diner, telling him that Blatnoyd has been found dead with fang bites on his neck and commenting about Puck Beaverton, an associate of loan shark Adrian Prussia. Doc travels to Chryskylodon, an asylum run by a cult connected to the Golden Fang. There, Doc glimpses Puck and Coy, and finds Mickey, who is being monitored by the FBI. Mickey tells him he felt guilty for the negativity his real-estate business caused and wanted to use all of his money to make housing free, appearing now to be brainwashed not to do so. When Doc returns home to his beach house, he is greeted by Shasta, who tells him Mickey is back with his wife and confesses to having been on the Golden Fang with Mickey, before having sex together. Penny, an assistant district attorney with whom Doc is having an affair, gives him confidential files from which he learns that the LAPD pays Adrian, who is tied to the Golden Fang, to kill people and that one of his victims was Bigfoot's former partner. Doc visits Adrian, but is attacked and imprisoned by Puck. He manages to escape, killing both Puck and Adrian. Bigfoot appears and rescues him, driving him home, but Doc discovers he has been set up: Bigfoot has planted heroin in his car (stolen from the Golden Fang as revenge for murdering his partner). Doc arranges for the drugs to be returned to the Golden Fang in exchange for Coy's freedom, as the Golden Fang runs Vigilant California. He drives Coy home and watches as he's reunited with Hope. Bigfoot visits Doc and apologizes for framing him, before leaving. Doc and Shasta drive off together, and they both say this does not mean they are back together. ==Cast==

• Joaquin Phoenix as Larry "Doc" Sportello • Josh Brolin as Lieutenant Christian F. "Bigfoot" Bjornsen • Owen Wilson as Coy Harlingen • Katherine Waterston as Shasta Fay Hepworth • Reese Witherspoon as Deputy District Attorney Penny Kimball • Benicio del Toro as Sauncho Smilax, Esq. • Jena Malone as Hope Harlingen • Joanna Newsom as Sortilège, who is also the narrator • Jordan Christian Hearn as Denis • Hong Chau as Jade • Jeannie Berlin as Aunt Reet • Maya Rudolph as Petunia Leeway • Michael Kenneth Williams as Tariq Khalil • Michelle Sinclair as Clancy Charlock • Elaine Tan as Xandra • Martin Short as Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd, D.D.S. • Sasha Pieterse as Japonica Fenway • Martin Donovan as Crocker Fenway • Eric Roberts as Michael Z. "Mickey" Wolfmann • Jillian Bell as Chlorinda • Serena Scott Thomas as Sloane Wolfmann • Yvette Yates as Luz • Andrew Simpson as Riggs Warbling • Jefferson Mays as Dr. Threeply, Chryskylodon Institute • Keith Jardine as Puck Beaverton • Peter McRobbie as Adrian Prussia • Sam Jaeger as FBI Agent Flatweed • Timothy Simons as FBI Agent Borderline • Samantha Lemole as Golden Fang Mother • Madison Leisle as Golden Fang Daughter • Matt Doyle as Golden Fang Father • Liam Van Joosten as Golden Fang Son ==Production==

Development It was first reported in December 2010 that Paul Thomas Anderson wanted to adapt Inherent Vice; at the time, he had been writing a treatment and started on a script after The Master (2012) had been shelved indefinitely months prior. Anderson originally adapted the entire 384-page novel sentence by sentence which made it easier for him to cut down the script than the novel. The first draft was written without a narrator but the character of Sortilège was later turned into the voice of the narrator. This is the first film adaptation from a Thomas Pynchon novel, with Anderson describing it "like a Cheech & Chong movie". Anderson has said he tried to cram as many jokes onto the screen as Pynchon squeezed onto the page and that the visual gags and gimmicks were inspired by Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker-style slapstick spoofs like the 1982 television series Police Squad!, and the films Airplane! (1980) and Top Secret! (1984). Anderson also used the underground comic strip Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers as what he has described as an invaluable "research bible" for the writing process. Downey Jr. stated in December 2011 that the planned collaboration was "probably true". In January 2013, it was reported that Joaquin Phoenix was in talks for the lead and that Downey Jr. had ultimately passed on the role. Downey Jr. later said that Anderson wanted to make the film with Phoenix because he was too old. In May 2013, it was reported that Benicio del Toro, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Martin Short, and Jena Malone joined the cast and that Katherine Waterston joined as the lead female role. In June 2013, it was reported that Peter McRobbie and Sasha Pieterse joined the cast. In July 2013, it was reported that Timothy Simons joined the cast. In October 2013, it was reported that Michael K. Williams joined the cast. In September 2014, it was reported that Pynchon may have a cameo appearance in the film, which Anderson would not confirm, citing Pynchon's choice to stay out of the public spotlight. Shooting permits in California covered a San Fernando Valley warehouse, a storefront on Slauson Boulevard, driving shots in the Canoga Park area, driving shots in canyon roads above Malibu and a warehouse in Chinatown. The set has been described as organized chaos, but the cast felt protected when they took big risks. Brolin also stated that there was "a really strange lack of pretense" but that Anderson would work with the actors when they felt something was not working. Pieterse stated that Anderson allowed "freedom and flexibility to really dive into your character and shape the scene". Wilson said, "Sometimes I wouldn't necessarily know what I was doing. We were encouraged to kind of do anything." ==Soundtrack==

The Inherent Vice soundtrack was composed by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. It was Greenwood's third collaboration with Anderson, following There Will Be Blood (2007) and The Master. The soundtrack also includes tracks from the late 1960s and early 1970s by Neil Young, Can, and the Marketts, among others. It was released by Nonesuch Records on December 16. ==Release==

Inherent Vice premiered as the centerpiece at the New York Film Festival on October 4, 2014. The film received a limited release on December 12, 2014, before being released in 645 theaters on January 9, 2015. ==Reception==

Box office Inherent Vice grossed $8.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $6.7 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $14.8 million. Critical response Film Journal Internationals Ethan Alter commented that the film is "confounding, challenging and consistently unique." IGN reviewer Matt Patches gave the film an 8.9 out of 10 score, saying "There's nothing certain – a surprisingly rewarding sensation that demands repeat viewings. There's so much, too much, to soak up, and all the laughter Anderson piles on top of the thematics means there's plenty to miss. Inherent Vice is a high grain strain: Provocative, hilarious, and its own breed of weird." Collider's Adam Chitwood named it one of the top ten films of 2014. The film was ranked 75th in a survey of 177 critics conducted by the BBC in 2016 to determine the 100 best films of the 21st century. Top ten lists Inherent Vice was listed on many film critics' top ten lists of 2014 films. • 1st: Drew McWeeny, HitFix • 1st: Glenn Kenny & Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com • 1st: Ben Kenigsberg, The A.V. Club • 1st: Jordan Raup, The Film Stage • 2nd: RogerEbert.com • 2nd: J. Hoberman, Artforum • 2nd: Sasha Stone, Awards Daily • 2nd: Marlow Stern, The Daily Beast • 2nd: David Ehrlich, Little White Lies • 2nd: Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times • 3rd: Keith Phipps, The Dissolve • 3rd: The Guardian • 3rd: Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News • 3rd: Kristopher Tapley, HitFix • 3rd: Andrew O'Hehir, Salon • 4th: Scott Foundas, Variety • 5th: Wesley Morris, Grantland • 5th: Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com • 5th: Adam Chitwood, Collider • 5th: Gregory Ellwood, HitFix • 5th: Kimberly Jones, Austin Chronicle • 6th: Jake Coyle, Associated Press • 6th: Alison Willmore, BuzzFeed • 7th: Cahiers du Cinéma • 8th: Ty Burr, The Boston Globe • 9th: William Bibbiani, CraveOnline • 9th: Sight & Sound • 9th: David Ansen, The Village Voice • 9th: Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times (tied with A Most Violent Year) • 10th: Eric Kohn, IndieWire • 10th: Harry Knowles, Ain't It Cool News • 10th: Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York • Best of 2014 (listed alphabetically, not ranked): Manohla Dargis, The New York Times ==Accolades==