Inherent Vice
Director Paul Thomas Anderson ( The Master ) had his work cut out for him. Pre-buzz about Inherent Vice pointed to the un-adaptability of Thomas Pynchon 's eponymous novel, upon which this is based and which I haven't read. The resulting film, for which Anderson wrote the adapted screenplay, covers what seem like multiple tangents, like Anderson was trying to rein in a sprawling, unstructured novel. The driving action (all set in California in 1970) focuses on stoner PI Doc Sportello (a full-gonzo Joaquin Phoenix , who previously worked with Anderson on The Master ). His ex-girlfriend, Shasta (the ethereal muse Katherine Waterston , who's wowed me on stage in Kindness and Bachelorette ), is now seeing Mickey Wolfman ( Eric Roberts ). Shasta asks Doc to investigate the machinations of Wolfman's wife and Wolfman's wife's boyfriend. (Does this sound a little confusing? It kind of is, but pay attention and you'll follow along.) Doc takes on the case, an...