Review: Inherent Vice

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★

One word to describe “Inherent Vice” would be outlandish. But to sum up a Paul Thomas Anderson movie in just one word would be doing a disservice to the sheer size and scope of the movie he’s put together. All of his films are larger than life representations of a widespread group of people. (Except maybe for his underrated classic “Punch Drunk Love.”) With “Inherent Vice,” Anderson turns his attention on a 1970s Los Angeles, filled with deception, sex and drugs.

Larry “Doc” Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is a perpetually stoned private investigator. One evening, his former lover Shasta Fay (Katherine Waterson) pays him a visit to tell him of a plan to kidnap the man she’s currently seeing, millionaire real estate mogul Mickey Wolfmann (Eric Roberts), and have him committed to a mental institution. The plan is being cooked up by Mickey’s wife Sloane (Serena Scott Thomas) and her lover Riggs Warbling (Andrew Simpson). Shasta asks Doc to help stop it from happening.

Meanwhile, Doc is asked by two more people to help track down others. The first is Tariq Khalil (Michael Kenneth Williams), who wants Doc to find one of Mickey’s bodyguards, whom he says owes him money from when they were in prison. The second is housewife Hope Harlingen (Jena Malone) who is looking for her husband Coy (Owen Wilson). She’s been told he’s dead, but she doesn’t believe it.

All three people are connected. And all three investigations turn into one giant investigation for Doc. Throughout his journey, Doc encounters some of the weirdest people Los Angeles has to offer, including his arch nemesis at the LAPD, Lt. Detective Christian F. Bjornsen (Josh Brolin), also known as Bigfoot, his lawyer friend Sauncho Smilax (Benicio Del Toro), who is more seasoned in maritime law than criminal law, and dentist Rudy Blatnoyd (Martin Short), who may or may not have key information for Doc if only he could keep his nose out of the cocaine.

With its overly dense plot and its diverse cast of characters, “Inherent Vice” has all the makings of a cult a film. And the more people who see it, the more likely it’ll become a cult classic, standing alongside the great stoner films such as “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “The Big Lebowski.” I tend to think of “Inherent Vice” in the same vein as “Lebowski” especially the main characters, probably because they’re both high as a kite throughout the entire film. Both characters are pulled into a convoluted crime plot against their will and continue to follow the clues as it leads them into more and more absurd situations. Both Doc and The Dude have no idea what’s going on, but they’re both stoned so what does it matter to them?

“Inherent Vice” is director Anderson like we’ve never seen him before. This isn’t the dark and brooding filmmaker we’ve seen recently with “There Will Be Blood” and “The Master.” This is a much more lighthearted affair. It still feels very much like an Anderson film with the brilliant use of music, the long takes and the bright vibrant colors. But it is also long and drawn out, much like Anderson’s other films. I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing. “There Will Be Blood” was nearly three hours and could be considered a masterpiece. It is something that should be known before going into it. It is long and, at times, feels like it.

But Anderson has such a great grasp on the source material. The tone of the film is a bright and vibrant as what I assume would be found in the Thomas Pynchon novel. I’ve not read the novel, but judging from the narration provided by Joanna Newsome, I can imagine what the writing must be like.

He’s done this before, matching the ominous and gloomy tone of an Upton Sinclair novel in “There Will Be Blood.” Anderson has such a great eye for stories that will work well within his style of filmmaking. This is such a great marriage of director and source material.

Phoenix continues to impress as he always does. Since his faux retirement from acting to embark on rap career (which was documented in “I’m Still Here” and later revealed to be a complete farce), Phoenix has turned in one award worthy role after another. As Doc in “Inherent Vice,” Phoenix continues his streak. He plays the stoner role so convincingly, but he’s at his best when the camera turns to him for reaction shots. The movie is so offbeat and weird that even Doc can’t believe what’s happening half the time. Phoenix perfectly sums up the audience’s reaction with his own reaction every time.

Elsewhere, the rest of the film is full of an ensemble of great actors and actresses. Many play small roles and will only appear in about two or three scenes each. The best member of the ensemble is Brolin as Doc’s nemesis in the LAPD. The character is written to be a comical antagonist to Doc, but not to the story. Brolin is larger than life in every scene he’s in. He outshines even Phoenix in the many scenes the two actors share. Brolin and his character were my favorite parts of this film.

“Inherent Vice” won’t be for everyone and I don’t think there will be too many people who will say it’s mediocre. Those who can fully grasp the ludicrous plot, Anderson’s unique style and the long running time will probably be thoroughly entertained throughout the entire film. They will also embrace the future cult status this film will no doubt receive. Then there will be those who are bored for the entire time and hate every single minute. As for me, I did enjoy it immensely. Yet this is the first time I have watched a film by Anderson and felt that it was too long. By comparison, it is shorter for him but it feels like the plot could have been paced a little better. Still, it is well done and will be well received but cult fans and stoners alike for years to come.

Review: Oldboy

by Trevor Kirkendall

★

I was going to pretend that Spike Lee’s “Oldboy” was not a remake of one of the best films of the last decade. I was going to sit there and watch “Oldboy” as if I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was not going to write my review for “Oldboy” and not compare it to the classic film from Chan-wook Park. Then I saw Spike Lee’s “Oldboy”. And now I just can’t help myself.

Josh Brolin helps butcher a classic film

It’s October 1993 as the movie opens. Joe Doucett (Josh Brolin) works in a New York ad agency. To put it politely, Joe is not a very nice person. He’s a raging alcoholic who is only interested in looking out for himself and his business. He doesn’t even want to attend his daughter’s third birthday because he has an important client to meet for dinner. After making a fool of himself at said dinner, Joe wanders aimlessly drunk through Chinatown until he passes out.

When he wakes, he’s in a dingy motel room, but there isn’t anyway out. He’s been kidnapped and is being held prisoner. All he has is a bed, a toilet, a shower, a TV and a copy of the Bible. On the TV, he finds out that his wife has been brutally murdered and the he is the prime suspect. He also learns through a true crime show that his daughter has been given up for adoption. Time passes and after 20 years, he is set free. He’s given a stack of 100 dollar bills, some sunglasses and an iPhone 5.

Enlisting the help of his old friend Chucky (Michael Imperioli) and an assistant at a mobile medical unit named Marie Sebastian (Elizabeth Olsen), Joe sets out to find out who kidnapped him. He keeps receiving calls on his iPhone from a blocked number. The voice on the other end (Sharlto Copley) tells him he has his daughter and he’ll kill her if he doesn’t play the game. Joe needs to figure out who this man is and why he kidnapped him. Otherwise, it’s lights out for the daughter he really wants to know.  

Min-sik Choi and Hye-jeong Kang in the vastly superior
2003 version of "Oldboy"

I fully intended on judging this film as a stand-alone movie and not a remake of one of the best films to ever come from the Korean peninsula. Halfway through the film, however, I couldn’t help but wonder why this film was deemed necessary to be remade. I suppose there are plenty of people who were never privileged to see the original Chan-wook Park masterpiece. The vast majority of the movie going public is probably very unfamiliar with this story. If you’re going to remake something, you might as well make one that most of the people haven’t seen.

But you also need to bring something new to the table. I’m not suggesting that Spike Lee’s “Oldboy” is a shot-for-shot remake of Park’s “Oldboy” but there isn’t any new substance, depth or complexities to the story or the characters that weren’t in the original. This version does not find Lee at his finest form. Far from it. What we have here is a film that seems to scare Lee. He seems timid in his approach to remaking such an acclaimed classic, even if the cinephiles were the only ones in the United States to have seen it.

Lee tries to incorporate too much of a Korean homage to his film. Korean films have their own very distinct voice. It’s much different than what American audiences are used to seeing. Someone could look at a Korean film and think some of the action, pacing, editing, photography and dialogue are on the campy side. While Lee keeps the vast majority of the film feeling very much like an American film, his occasional homages feel largely out of place. One scene in particular involves Brolin fighting a gang of people. It doesn’t quite fit the tone that’s trying to be achieved and comes across looking very out of place.

Furthermore, Lee included Samuel L. Jackson in a minor role. Jackson is typical Jackson: loud speech and plenty of profanity. He’s also dressed in some equally loud costumes too. His costumes scream Asian cinema. His character, however, is distinctly American.

Brolin doesn’t ever come across as the hero he’s meant to be. I found myself easily able to root for Min-sik Choi in the original. Brolin just seems like some arrogant guy that I wouldn’t even be interested in striking up a random conversation with at a bar. You can’t root for someone who isn’t likeable. The screenplay from “Thor” scribe Mark Protosevich gives him absolutely nothing to work with.

The one bright spot in this entire disaster is Elizabeth Olsen who plays Brolin’s investigative counterpart. She’s already carved out quite a career for herself in only a few years. She has easily escaped what could have been an extremely large shadow cast over her by her former megastar sisters. While Protosevich also gives her very little in the script, Olsen has been able to build the character up all on her own. We’re given very little backstory, but she seems much more relatable and much more empathetic. Olsen saves this movie from being completely forgettable, but she alone doesn’t make this a worthwhile venture.

“Oldboy” should have been off limits from Hollywood. If we do have to have remakes, then I think that looking at small foreign films is the route to go instead of remaking overplayed Hollywood films everyone knows. But internationally acclaimed classics such as Park’s “Oldboy” need to be left alone. For those who haven’t seen the original, I recommend you get on that right away. It is available on Netflix’s instant streaming service.

The only catch is the film is dubbed instead of subtitled. That’s a cardinal sin for foreign language films. Rather than reading it, you have to listen to some guy who got paid SAG minimum to sit in a recording booth and mumble his way through a script. And then the final product looks awful because the dialogue doesn’t even match the movement of the actor’s lips (cue jokes about old “Godzilla” movies). While dubbing this classic film’s soundtrack is an extremely disrespectful move, it comes nowhere near the blasphemy of its remake.