Inherent Vice
Stream
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In Los Angeles at the turn of the 1970s, drug-fueled detective Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend.
What critics thought
Critics received Inherent Vice warmly, with strong professional scores that sit in notable tension with a more lukewarm audience reaction — suggesting the film plays better as a piece of deliberate, shaggy provocation than as satisfying genre entertainment. The deliberate incoherence of its Thomas Pynchon adaptation was the central fault line: admirers found the density and weirdness rewarding across repeat viewings, while others found it willfully confounding. It has since built a cult following, landing in BBC critics' polls and reader-chosen best-of-century lists.
“confounding, challenging and consistently unique”
Ethan Alter·Film Journal International
“There's nothing certain – a surprisingly rewarding sensation that demands repeat viewings. There's so much, too much, to soak up, and all the laughter Anderson piles on top of the thematics means there's plenty to miss. Inherent Vice is a high grain strain: Provocative, hilarious, and its own breed of weird.”
Matt Patches·IGN
Accolades
Genres
Drama, Mystery, Comedy
Cast & Crew
Paul Thomas AndersonDirector
Joaquin PhoenixLarry "Doc" Sportello
Josh BrolinLt. Det. Christian F. "Bigfoot" Bjornsen
Owen WilsonCoy Harlingen
Katherine WaterstonShasta Fay Hepworth
Reese WitherspoonDeputy D.A. Penny Kimball
Benicio del ToroSauncho Smilax, Esq.
Jena MaloneHope Harlingen
Joanna NewsomSortilège, who is also the narrator
Jordan Christian HearnDenis
Hong ChauJade
Jeannie BerlinAunt Reet
Maya RudolphPetunia Leeway
Jonny GreenwoodComposer
Thomas PynchonWriter
Robert ElswitCinematographyInherent Vice
In Los Angeles at the turn of the 1970s, drug-fueled detective Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend.
What critics thought
Critics received Inherent Vice warmly, with strong professional scores that sit in notable tension with a more lukewarm audience reaction — suggesting the film plays better as a piece of deliberate, shaggy provocation than as satisfying genre entertainment. The deliberate incoherence of its Thomas Pynchon adaptation was the central fault line: admirers found the density and weirdness rewarding across repeat viewings, while others found it willfully confounding. It has since built a cult following, landing in BBC critics' polls and reader-chosen best-of-century lists.
“confounding, challenging and consistently unique”
Ethan Alter·Film Journal International
“There's nothing certain – a surprisingly rewarding sensation that demands repeat viewings. There's so much, too much, to soak up, and all the laughter Anderson piles on top of the thematics means there's plenty to miss. Inherent Vice is a high grain strain: Provocative, hilarious, and its own breed of weird.”
Matt Patches·IGN
Accolades
Genres
Drama, Mystery, Comedy
Cast & Crew
Paul Thomas AndersonDirectorJoaquin PhoenixLarry "Doc" SportelloJosh BrolinLt. Det. Christian F. "Bigfoot" BjornsenOwen WilsonCoy HarlingenKatherine WaterstonShasta Fay HepworthReese WitherspoonDeputy D.A. Penny KimballBenicio del ToroSauncho Smilax, Esq.Jena MaloneHope HarlingenJoanna NewsomSortilège, who is also the narratorJordan Christian HearnDenisHong ChauJadeJeannie BerlinAunt ReetMaya RudolphPetunia LeewayJonny GreenwoodComposerThomas PynchonWriterRobert ElswitCinematographyStream
Rent & Buy