Dustin: 4 of 5 stars Nick: 4 of 5 stars Average: 4 of 5 stars (Live canary)
Dustin: Inherent Vice is a stoner crime mystery based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon. It stars Joaquin “Leaf” Phoenix as Doc, a type of hippie physician PI involved in a caper to locate a missing real estate tycoon who was involved with Doc’s ex-girlfriend.
Nick: When I saw Inherent Vice the audience was so rambunctious it was hard to pay attention to anything. The funny thing with that is I feel this film wants to be confusing anyway. Told from a stoner’s perspective that keeps getting more complicated for him to be able to focus in on the first detail, let alone the four more he’s discovered within the past 48 hours.
Dustin: The audience I saw it with also lost it every time Doc smoked or snorted drugs. I felt lost from the first scene. I was able to get the gist of the movie, but didn’t fully understand it. I believe that was an artistic decision as well. It was like walking into the middle of an interesting conversation and always feeling somewhat behind.
I will say I enjoyed the movie enough that I would watch it again or read the book to really understand it. I have a feeling this movie has a lot more to discover the more you see it that will make it more enjoyable. I think I’d give it a higher rating after subsequent viewings, but I usually go with my first instinct when giving star ratings.
Nick: I stated the exact same thing to my friend after the film. The book would probably tie all these lovely parts that I caught together better than subsequent viewings of the film. Although I also want to see it again. The film never stopped making me laugh. Whether it was with subtle humor or over-the-top gags that were pulled off by great actors. Joaquin is one hell of a fantastic actor!
Dustin: Like a David O’Russell film, this is a movie where the performances carry it as the actors have fun with their roles. I especially loved Martin Short as the creepy, druggie dentist and Josh Brolin as the stone-faced narc. “Motto panucake-u!”
Nick: If a movie has David O. Russell or Paul Thomas Anderson’s name attached to it I would see it without ever questioning what the film is about. I tried to not watch the trailer for Inherent Vice because I was so stoked for, it but with all the movies I see it’s an almost impossible occurrence.
Did you think Joanna Newsom’s character was a figment of Doc’s imagination? She is the woman who is always giving him some shade of wisdom and only ever talks to Doc.
Dustin: She was the narrator also, right? That’s an interesting angle. I didn’t think of it, but now that you mention it, she is kind of a character that only exists around the protagonist, like Bruce Willis in Sixth Sense (spoiler alert!)
Nick: Yep, and she also exists to just spout out wisdom to Doc to try to reel him back in from his druggy haze. The film was constantly fun to the extent that no matter how much the audience tried to piss me off I was always in a curious and joyous mood. But the one part that was no fun at all was the sex scene between Doc and his former lover… Did you find the spanking disturbing? I did.
Dustin: Yes, it made me uncomfortable too. It kind of changed my opinion of Doc from a lovable stoner to kind of a creep. I was still engaged, but I thought of him differently.
Nick: I stated the exact same thing to my friend after the film. The book would probably tie all these lovely parts that I caught together better than subsequent viewings of the film. Although I also want to see it again. The film never stopped making me laugh. Whether it was with subtle humor or over-the-top gags that were pulled off by great actors. Joaquin is one hell of a fantastic actor!
Dustin: Like a David O’Russell film, this is a movie where the performances carry it as the actors have fun with their roles. I especially loved Martin Short as the creepy, druggie dentist and Josh Brolin as the stone-faced narc. “Motto panucake-u!”
Nick: If a movie has David O. Russell or Paul Thomas Anderson’s name attached to it I would see it without ever questioning what the film is about. I tried to not watch the trailer for Inherent Vice because I was so stoked for, it but with all the movies I see it’s an almost impossible occurrence.
Did you think Joanna Newsom’s character was a figment of Doc’s imagination? She is the woman who is always giving him some shade of wisdom and only ever talks to Doc.
Dustin: She was the narrator also, right? That’s an interesting angle. I didn’t think of it, but now that you mention it, she is kind of a character that only exists around the protagonist, like Bruce Willis in Sixth Sense (spoiler alert!)
Nick: Yep, and she also exists to just spout out wisdom to Doc to try to reel him back in from his druggy haze. The film was constantly fun to the extent that no matter how much the audience tried to piss me off I was always in a curious and joyous mood. But the one part that was no fun at all was the sex scene between Doc and his former lover… Did you find the spanking disturbing? I did.
Dustin: Yes, it made me uncomfortable too. It kind of changed my opinion of Doc from a lovable stoner to kind of a creep. I was still engaged, but I thought of him differently.
Nick: I wouldn’t go as far as calling him a creep. She was naked and teasing him, but the aggressive way he acted once he was bent to her will was very disturbing. It could probably be explained from the pent up rage he has for her since she left him without so much as a word. Though that scene was so awesome. Did you notice it was one take? From the moment she appeared naked to the end of the sex scene. I wonder how many times they had to shoot the scene and what they were going for. Do you think they picked the one that was the most uncomfortable?
Dustin: What made it extra uncomfortable is a group of high school delinquents wandered into the theater right at that moment and burst out laughing. I felt like a dirty old man. And that’s not just because I was sitting in the back aisle wearing a trench coat.
Dustin: What made it extra uncomfortable is a group of high school delinquents wandered into the theater right at that moment and burst out laughing. I felt like a dirty old man. And that’s not just because I was sitting in the back aisle wearing a trench coat.
Nick: Nothing but a trench coat?
Dustin: Pretty much.
Nick: The scene early on when Doc walks into the brothel and the names of the sex acts and how much each of them cost still has me laughing now. I found it that funny.
I would also like to point out how I so called Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern being nominated for Oscars in our last blog entry for Wild. On how I knew, but didn’t understand why Reese would get one and how I wanted but didn’t know if Laura would be nominated. The Oscars these days, to me, don’t mean too much anyway.
I would also like to point out how I so called Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern being nominated for Oscars in our last blog entry for Wild. On how I knew, but didn’t understand why Reese would get one and how I wanted but didn’t know if Laura would be nominated. The Oscars these days, to me, don’t mean too much anyway.
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