"Inherent Vice" is defined as "the tendency in physical objects to deteriorate because of the fundamental instability of the components of which they are made, as opposed to deterioration caused by external forces." This is the theme of Paul Thomas Anderson's 2014 film of the same name, based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon, the first time the literary icon's work was adapted to the screen. I watched it last night courtesy of Netflix. It's a natural pairing: Anderson is as challenging an American auteur as there is, and Pynchon is a hard read, about halfway between mainstream novels and James Joyce. The intellect of these men is no doubt much higher than that of the rest of us.
Inherent Vice is one of those movies that have to be viewed more than once to get. The basic plot is simple. Set in 1970, a hippie PI is visited by his ex-girlfriend, who asks his help in a shady deal. Along the way there are many twists and turns. According to an article by Cory Everett, Anderson stayed close to the source material. Rumor has it that Pynchon helped on the screenplay, which the director adapted. There are many familiar faces among the cast: Joaquin Phoenix is a natural in the lead; Josh Brolin is terrific as a frenemy, abusive cop. Owen Wilson, Jeannie Berlin, Reese Witherspoon, Benecio Del Toro, Eric Roberts, SNL alum Maya Rudolph, Martin Donovan and Martin Short also bring their considerable talents to the quirky narrative. Katherine Waterston nails it as the flower child ex. She is the daughter of Sam of
Law & Order fame. The film has limited appeal, geared to those who long for something different than what American films usually offer. Fans of fare of the '70's may also be interested, as the look and feel is captured neatly. 80,000+ users at IMDb have rated it, forging to a consensus of 6.7 on a scale of ten. It contains a little violence and nudity, and lots of profanity. It was a failure at the box office, bringing in $14+ million on a budget of $20 million, although I'd guess DVD sales and rentals and streaming bridged that gap considerably and possibly eliminated it. None of Anderson's nine films has approached blockbuster earnings, and some have finished in the red. Fortunately, there are producers still willing to back him. He's only 48, so there should be a lot more to come. He has received eight Oscar nominations without ever winning one. Here's his canon, all of them well out of the mainstream. My favorites are the first two. All are unique.
Hard Eight (1996)
Boogie Nights (1997)
Magnolia (1999)
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
The Master (2012)
Phantom Thread (2017)
Here's a pic of Phoenix in character:
Chez Reavie, 37, had an odd round yesterday at this week's stop on the PGA tour, Honolulu. For the first time in history, a player made eagle on three par four's in the same round. He holed out from 101 yards at the 6th, from further out at the 10th, and from even further out at the 16th - three eagles without a single putt! That too is a record. It's similar to making three holes-in-one. And he shot "only" 65, as he struggled at other holes. He's four shots out of the lead.
There was enough sunshine to allow the floating book shop to operate on this cold day. My thanks to the woman who bought three Sheryl Woods paperbacks, and to the other who purchased Stephen King's
The Dark Half; and to Bill Brown, author of
Words and Guitar: A History of Lou Reed's Music, who stopped to chat. He's working on a translation of a modern French novel. Years ago he did one of an Italian novel. When he spotted Thomas Pychon's
Vineland, we discussed the author. He's read the aforementioned, and and
Inherent Vice, which he loved,
saying
those two
are not nearly as difficult as
V or
Gravity's Rainbow, the latter of which I read. I remember only one scene from it. The protagonist looks through a window and sees Mickey Rooney and Winston Churchill at a party inside the house.
