Film: Inherent Vice - A classic trippy film noir you might have missed

If you enjoy film noir's and haven't seen Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, I will henceforth make a case why you should watch this hidden classic of a film. Taking place in the fictionalized Gortita Beach in Los Angeles in 1970, Inherent Vice catches the end of the 1960's psychedelic, hippy, idealistic love fest and the start of the cynical, tumultuous, capitalistic, paranoid fueled 1970's. Covering subject matter like Cointelpro, heroin addiction, Nazis and wars off in far off places, the film seems more relevant than ever in 2017

The film stars Juaquin Phoenix as the uneducated, pot-smoking private detective Larry "Doc" Sportello, an unchanging "loser" hangover from the previous decade who is about to see his tranquil, hippy ideals and lifestyle decisions assaulted by an organized criminal racket known mysteriously as "The Golden Fang." As Doc wanders through his multiple investigations he is regularly set up by the authoritarian, bully LA detective known as "Bigfoot." The entire movie involves Doc being used and abused by members of the secretive "Golden Fang" clique, all somehow loosely associated in social arrangements and business agreements beyond the comprehension of the innocent hippy.

The film and the title illustrate how "things fall apart" after a period of love and excess, and how it's always the losers in society like Doc Sportello that seem to be the only members of society with a moral compass. Pynchon addresses the issues of good and evil within our modern capitalism, one where individual actors end up being tied into loyalties and organizations that force them into upholding a corrupt order while they remain unconscious of the big picture. Anderson brought along Radiohead guitarist Tommy Greenwood for the music and score, which successfully captures the dream-like existence of Doc as navigates through hostile environments while being stoned pretty much the entire time. The film benefits from multiple viewings, while the novel clarifies some ideas that the film quickly passes over. I recommend watching the movie, and if you find it fascinating enough to examine some more, then I recommend reading the book. Inherent Vice is a good read for people who haven't read any of Thomas Pynchon's novels as a gateway drug into his other more complex and difficult reads.

Here's the full movie on youtube

Here's a story outline from wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inherent_Vice

Here's a link to purchase the book from amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Inherent-Vice-Novel-Thomas-Pynchon/dp/0143117564