Tag Archives: Paul Thomas Anderson

2025 Films, Action, Alana Haim, Benicio del Toro, Chase Infiniti, Crime Thriller, Kevin Tighe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Paul Thomas Anderson, Regina Hall, Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor, Thriller, Tony Goldwyn

One Battle After Another-2025

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One Battle After Another-2025

Director Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti

Scott’s Review #1,497

Reviewed October 20, 2025

Grade: A

In my opinion, one of the modern great directors, Paul Thomas Anderson has released One Battle After Another (2025), a film rich with thrills and relevance. Sought to be made for years, the film is inspired by the 1990 novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon with some narratives by Anderson peppered in.

Undoubtedly, Anderson was influenced by the current state of the United States in terms of immigration issues and tyrancy in the ICE (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement) organization.

While immigration is not a new hot button issue, the inhumanity heaved onto ‘illegal immigrants’ and some US citizens is current as well as powerful.

Additionally, a frightening tone of racism and ‘white power’ is an underlying theme of the film contrasting covert hatred by a group of white supremisists with the humanity of revolutionaries who attack the political system.

Therefore, the film has an overwhelming modern feel.

Otherwise, the breakneck twists and turns and action make One Battle After Another the crown jewel in storytelling fun and an Anderson offering that could easily be added to his top 5 of all time.

Events follow an ex-revolutionary explosive device expert, “Ghetto” Pat Calhoun / “Rocketman” / Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is forced back into his former combative lifestyle when a corrupt military officer pursues him and his daughter.

With new identies, they had assumed they could live a peaceful life of tranquility but they were in for a rude awakening.

Set in present times, the film begins fifteen years before events later in the story but with a clear linkage. This ensures the audience is invested in the characters especially in the latter half as we get to know them better.

While DiCaprio can never deliver a bad performance and firmly grips the lead role as the intelligent yet comically clumbsy Bob, other actors shine making One Battle After Another an ensemble piece dripping with award worthy performances and hefty accolades.

DiCaprio improvises his way through the script with stutters and stammering enveloping his character with endearing qualities like forgetting a vital password or falling off a roof. Nonetheless, he possesses sentimenal and introspective moments towards his life and teenaged daughter, Willa Ferguson / Charlene Calhoun, played by Chase Infiniti.

Infiniti is tremendous in what is her breakout role playing a mixed race girl attempting to lead an everyday life while having to pay for the crimes and mistakes of her parents.

Playing confident, yet scared and vulnerable, Infiniti is quite the find. Is she destined to follow in her parents footsteps?

Teyana Taylor is brutally talented as she plays Perfidia Beverly Hills, a tough as nails, take no prisoner, kick ass young woman known to tease and humiliate her prey strictly for laughs.

Regina Hall and Benicio del Toro leverage their kind hearted and supportive characters with emotional flare and some needed humor especially on the part of del Toro.

The standout, however is Sean Penn. Giving a bravura performance as the hated and racist Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw, a military officer who pursues the French 75, he sneers and pouts, never playing the character over the top or for laughs.

He truly believes he comes from a superior race while bedding the women he despises.

A three-way highway car chase scene nearly rivals classic sequences in The French Connection (1971) and The Getaway (1972). As three separate drivers points of views are featured along a hilly highway with deadly results the audience is treated to rear view mirror and reaction shots.

I honestly did not know what would happen next and was delighted at the outcome.

Hopefully, as the years go by One Battle After Another (2025) will be remembered for embracing different genres and delivering a powerhouse final product. With great acting, editing, storytelling, and action the film has got it all.

Add in a timely message and you’ve got yourself a gem.

#8 Favorite Film, 1997 Films, Alfred Molina, Anne Fletcher, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle, Drama, Favorite Film of the Year, Heather Graham, Independent, Independent Drama, Joanna Gleason, John C. Reilly, Julianne Moore, Luis Guzman, Mark Wahlberg, Melora Walters, Paul Thomas Anderson, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Top 10 Films, Top 100 Films, Top 25 Films, Top 250 Films, Top 50 Films, William H. Macy

Boogie Nights-1997

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Boogie Nights-1997

Director Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds

Top 250 Films #8

Scott’s Review #312

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Reviewed December 31, 2015

Grade: A

Boogie Nights (1997) is a fantastic film about the pornography industry (The Golden Age of Porn) of the 1970s and 1980s, and does an excellent job of portraying the characters as human beings with feelings and emotions, rather than as nymphomaniacs or perverts.

They bond with one another as a family- a group of misfits striving to survive. This, and many other reasons, are why Boogie Nights is one of my all-time favorite films.

Written, produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia, 1999; There Will Be Blood, 2007; Inherent Vice, 2014), he is a master at exploring the underbelly of society and flawed, desperate characters.

Boogie Nights is no different.

The dysfunctional family is the common theme of the film. Most of his characters are not happy people, but they are survivors who desperately seek a piece of happiness.

Many in his cast of Boogie Nights also appear in Magnolia. Mark Wahlberg (Eddie/Dirk Diggler), Burt Reynolds (Jack Horner), Julianne Moore (Maggie), Don Cheadle (Buck), William H. Macy (Little Bill), John C. Reilly (Reed Rothchild), Heather Graham (Rollergirl), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Scotty), Malora Walters (Jessie), and Alfred Molina (Rahad Jackson), round out the large cast.

The film is set in Los Angeles and spans the period from 1977 to 1984. Although only seven years pass, much happens to most of the characters during this time, and we experience their trials and tribulations.

The unique thing about Boogie Nights is that I care about every character, thanks to excellent writing and fantastic acting. They succeeded in obtaining my empathy for them. Boogie Nights is a highly character-driven film, which is an enormous part of its brilliance.

The cast is an ensemble one, but the main character is Eddie Adams, a high school dropout, who we meet working as a dishwasher at a nightclub. He has an abusive mother who kicks him out of the house, leading him to audition for and move in with Jack Horner.

Jack is a patriarchal figure who shares a house with Maggie, the matriarch of the household, and Roller Girl, a fellow high school dropout who is always seen wearing roller skates. Eddie’s talent is his large “manhood”.

We watch Eddie, at first shy and polite, rise to superstardom in the porn industry, becoming rich and living a lavish, drug-fueled lifestyle, where his ego gets the best of him. He, like many of the characters, hit rough times as the early 1980s shift to videotape was the death of many 1970s porn actors’ careers.

The musical soundtrack plays a crucial role in the success of Boogie Nights. Many scenes contain songs that were hits of the time or prior, including “Sister Christian”, “Jessie’s Girl”, “God Only Knows”, “Got to Give it Up”, “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now”, and countless others- so much so that the soundtrack is almost a character of the film.

We look forward to hearing what song might be featured next.

At one point later in the film, circa 1983, as things begin to spiral out of control for many of the characters, the musical score turns ominous, with low bass music, a nighttime setting, and the lighting becomes darker. Several stories begin to intersect on a late L.A. night on the streets.

Jack, filming a scene in a limousine starring Rollergirl and a young college jock they pick up off the streets, Dirk, forced to prostitute himself for $10 to a young man in a pickup truck, and Buck, who innocently stops to buy doughnuts for his very pregnant wife Jessie.

Each of these stories ends in brutal violence, and the tone is crucial to the success of the scenes. This lengthy scene bears a resemblance to a Quentin Tarantino scene in its macabre tone.

Particular favorite scenes include the heartbreaking scene when Maggie loses custody of her son, the New Year’s Eve party at Jack’s house, and the ill-fated drug sale at Rahad Jackson’s.

Each is heartbreaking, powerful, fraught with tension, or otherwise empathetic to the characters, which makes them each quite powerful in different ways.

Induced in the drug sale scene is some black comedy- Rahad’s presumed Chinese houseboy has a fetish for firecrackers, which startle Dirk, Reed, and Todd, as the fear of possible gunshots fills the air. Maggie’s sob scene elicits viewer emotion as we cry with her, and the New Year’s Eve turn of events involving Scotty and Little Bill is tragic.

Boogie Nights (1997) is one of my favorite films because it contains brilliant writing, characters who are fleshed out, damaged, and human, a killer soundtrack, and a dark, mysterious industry (porn) that is both misunderstood and categorized.

Thanks to director Anderson, we see the people within this lifestyle as real individuals, with their own issues, but also with full hearts and kindness.

Oscar Nominations: Best Supporting Actor-Burt Reynolds, Best Supporting Actress-Julianne Moore, Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

#67 Favorite Film, 1999 Films, Alfred Molina, Drama, Favorite Film of the Year, Felicity Huffman, Independent, Independent Drama, Jason Robards, John C. Reilly, Julianne Moore, Luis Guzman, Melinda Dillon, Melora Walters, Patton Oswalt, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Top 100 Films, Top 250 Films, William H. Macy

Magnolia-1999

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Magnolia-1999

Director Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly

Top 250 Films #67

Scott’s Review #777

Reviewed June 21, 2018

Grade: A

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of my favorite modern directors. In my opinion, his best film is Boogie Nights (1997), but he has also created other dark offerings, such as Phantom Thread (2017) and Inherent Vice (2014).

Arguably, his most distinctive effort might be Magnolia (1999), a cerebral film that explores themes of forgiveness and the meaning of life.

An ambitious effort, featuring a stellar ensemble cast, makes the film a fantastic experience.

Set in the San Fernando Valley (a mountainous area of Los Angeles), the film resembles David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (2001) in area and oddness, along with unusual dialogue and offbeat characters.

A narrator explains three situations of extreme coincidence and surmises that chance may not be the only responsible party. Anderson then carves an intricate tale involving numerous characters, intersecting lives, and a riveting final climax during one rainy California day (an oddity in itself!).

The plot begins when we meet Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly), a police officer who is called to investigate a disturbance.

After finding a woman’s body in an apartment closet, events turn bizarre as a children’s game show host (Philip Baker Hall), his estranged daughter (Melora Walters), the show’s former producer, Earl (Jason Robards), who is dying from cancer, his drug-addicted wife Linda (Julianne Moore), Earl’s male caretaker (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a former game show champion (William H. Macy), and finally, an intense motivational speaker (Tom Cruise).

Quite a bevy of talented actors!

As the plot moves along mysteriously, the connections of each of the characters are not only revealed, but their peculiar motivations start to take shape.

For example, Linda, who married Earl for his money, seems to have an epiphany and demands her lawyer change Earl’s will. Later, a character may have a connection to Earl and Linda, but is it all as it seems?

In the case of Magnolia, the film is so wonderfully strange that it leaves the audience guessing throughout most of its running time.

Bizarre scenes are commonplace throughout the film. My favorite one is a marvelously creative scene. Suddenly, frogs begin to fall out of nowhere from the Los Angeles sky with numerous consequences for the characters.

The incident causes a ripple effect, of sorts, as many of the character’s fates are determined. Though one may not be able to make heads or tails of this scene or take complete logic from it, it’s enthralling all the same.

Magnolia has an overall quirky tone- sometimes upbeat-sometimes melancholy- that I adore. Films that are tough to figure out and that add an interesting musical score are so rich with flavor.

Aimee Mann is responsible for composing many of the songs on the musical soundtrack, so much so that she received a title credit on the soundtrack itself. Mann infuses richness into her music that is moody and diverse with ambient essentials.

Many actors make frequent appearances in Paul Thomas Anderson’s films. Magnolia alone seems almost like a Boogie Nights reunion with Moore, Walters, Macy, Baker Hall, and Philip Seymour-Hoffman to name just a handful.

The amazing aspect is that all of the aforementioned actors play vastly different, and arguably even more complex roles than they did in Boogie Nights.

Similar to Quentin Tarantino’s actors appearing in many of his films, what a creative treat this must be for them.

There is no doubt that Magnolia (1999) is a complex, dream-like, film. Open to interpretation and reflection, I find it to be a film that feels brilliant and that I would like to revisit and dive into even more and more with further viewings, for hopefully a better understanding and an even deeper appreciation.

Oscar Nominations: Best Supporting Actor-Tom Cruise, Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Best Original Song-“Save Me”

2002 Films, Action, Cameron Crowe, Colin Farrell, Crime Thriller, Frank Grillo, Jessica Harper, Lois Smith, Max von Sydow, Peter Ramsey, Peter Stormare, Samantha Morton, Science Fiction, Steve Harris, Steven Spielberg, Thriller, Tom Cruise

Minority Report-2002

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Minority Report-2002

Director Steven Spielberg

Starring Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton

Scott’s Review #1,318

Reviewed November 27, 2022

Grade: B+

If you study his body of film work, the fascinating thing about acclaimed director Steven Spielberg is the growth and groundbreaking cross-genre categorization of many of his films.

Traversing blockbuster popcorn films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and E.T. the Extra-terrestrial (1982) to heavy drama with the 1993 masterpiece Schindler’s List, the man can do it all.

With 2002’s Minority Report, he bravely delves into science-fiction territory with a crime thriller and action tint. The film is tough to follow and mostly reminds me of Inception (2010), a Christopher Nolan vehicle influenced by this film.

Despite the cerebral tone, Minority Report is a fascinating study of futuristic crime-fighting styles with enough twists and turns to keep me engaged though I confess at times having no real idea what was going on plot-wise.

The casting of Tom Cruise is a major win. Who better to carry a film like this except maybe Bruce Willis though Cruise is a better actor. Nonetheless, he is believable as a crime chief with a slick edge and a wicked smile.

Unsure whether or not to trust him he remains at the heart of the success of the film.

Based on a story by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, ‘Minority Report’ contains a perfect premise to bring to the big screen. Set in Washington D.C. in 2054, police are now intelligent enough to utilize psychic technology to arrest and convict murderers before they commit their crimes.

The setup is fabulous and rife with possibility.

Cruise plays Chief John Anderton, the head of this Precrime unit, and is himself accused of the future murder of a man he hasn’t even met. Following an audit, it is predicted that in thirty-six hours, Anderton will kill a man who is a stranger to Anderton.

Anderton flees, prompting a manhunt led by Witwer (Colin Farrell).

It is revealed that Anderton joined the Precrime program after his son was kidnapped and never found. He is depressed, withdrawn, and addicted to hard drugs, and his wife Lara (Kathryn Morris) has since left him.

But is this all a setup and are others involved in the conspiracy?

The plot goes way off the rails in terms of explanation or logic but the fun is in trying to put the never-ending puzzle pieces together. Truthfully, after a while, I simply gave up this approach and enjoyed the visual eye candy and terrific futuristic style.

I rarely am a proponent of visuals over storytelling but the intelligence of the sequences and the thrilling nature of the acting assured me there was something there. I just wasn’t completely getting it.

Since it’s directed by Spielberg I was confident that the complexities I was being served were not shit. I was comforted by this knowledge and my enjoyment escalated.

Enough props can’t be handed out for Cruise’s dynamic performance parlayed by the coldness and harshness of the overall tone of the film.

Many of Spielberg’s films are heartwarming but this was not to be found in Minority Report (2002) and I liked it even more for that reason.

Spielberg gets another win by suckering me into a cinematic world that he magically can create. This time with perplexities and perhaps even some influence from the Matrix (1999) movies.

Oscar Nominations: Best Sound Editing

2021 Films, Alana Haim, Benny Safdie, Bradley Cooper, Christine Ebersole, Comedy, Cooper Hoffman, Drama, John C. Reilly, Joseph Cross, Maya Rudolph, Paul Thomas Anderson, Sean Penn, Tom Waits

Licorice Pizza-2021

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Licorice Pizza-2021

Director Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman

Scott’s Review #1,213

Reviewed December 27, 2021

Grade: A

Licorice Pizza (2021) is a Los Angeles-based coming-of-age drama by director Paul Thomas Anderson.

Anderson is one of my favorite directors, and the film is a must-see for fans of his. Most fans of his yearn to see everything he creates, and this one will not disappoint.

One may initially yawn at the tired coming-of-age drama genre, and I did too, but once I heard that Anderson was directing, my curiosity was piqued, and I felt secure in the knowledge that the film would be different.

Indeed, Licorice Pizza is special and has a charm all its own.

The expected killer musical soundtrack, prevalent in many Anderson films, is there and befitting of the time of 1973. A bit of quirky black humor and general weirdness is also there, and so are cameos by A-list superstars like Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper.

Speaking of the soundtrack, they may not be the expected top hits of the time, but more obscure gems like ‘Life On Mars?” by David Bowie, “Walk Away” by Joe Walsh, or “But You’re Mine” by Sonny & Cher. I enjoyed the under-the-radar approach as it fits the central characters.

Besides these and other juicy trimmings, the story is an excellent romantic comedy featuring up-and-coming Hollywood stars, Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman.

They carry the film and emit tremendous chemistry from their very first scene. Haim is in a rock band, and Hoffman is the son of actor and frequent Anderson star Phillip Seymore Hoffman. I bet Dad would be proud of his son.

For a recent comparison, Licorice Pizza shares a similar setting and tone with Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), although the stories are pretty dissimilar.

Alana Kane (Haim) and Gary Valentine (Hoffman) are twenty-five years old and fifteen years old, respectively.  They grew up, ran around, and fell in love in California’s San Fernando Valley in 1973.

Gary is a child actor who also runs his own public relations business, while Alana is a struggling photographer’s assistant yearning to do something more meaningful.

Immediately rebuffing the advances of a ‘child,’ Alana slowly falls for Gary, and the two forge an unbroken bond as they navigate successes, failures, heartbreaks, and longings.

The setting of sunny California in 1973 is pure genius, as Anderson authentically transports us there with the cars, clothing, and hairstyles that were then considered trendy.

The added pleasure of seeing stars of the day, such as Jack Holden (really William Holden), Lucy Doolittle (really Lucille Ball), and film producer John Peters, is downright gleeful.

Not to be outdone, Sean Penn, Christine Ebersole, and Bradley Cooper portray these figures. Each actor is delightful in their respective roles, with my favorite being Penn as the martini-slugging Holden.

But the film is hardly about celebrity sightings in a long-ago era.

During the final act, Alana becomes enamored with a politician for whom she works. Not a superfluous romantic entanglement, the figure is Joel Wachs, a real-life then closeted gay male who later would champion gay causes.

The film showcases the pain of a closeted gay man and his secretive boyfriend as Alana helps them put up a front to avoid his career being ruined.

At the heart of Licorice Pizza, though, remains the romance of Gary and Alana. The fact that there is a ten-year age gap between them should be a big deal, but somehow it’s not.

Gary can be precocious and sometimes a little shit, and Alana is moody and temperamental, but I fell in love with them anyway, and other viewers will assuredly share my passion for the pair.

They try to get through their youth with some plan or semblance of direction, and the joy is to accompany them and enjoy the ride.

There is a freshness and honesty to Licorice Pizza (2021) that cannot be shaken. Thanks in large part to Hoffman and Haim, the film is one of those that exude magnificence and appeal that is hard to put into words.

Viewers of any age will be immediately transported back to their young adulthood and the feelings and inadequacies that come with it.

I wish more films of this ilk were made.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director-Paul Thomas Anderson, Best Original Screenplay

2017 Films, Brian Gleeson, Camilla Rutherford, Daniel Day-Lewis, Drama, Gina McKee, Lesley Manville, Paul Thomas Anderson, Romantic Drama, Vicky Krieps

Phantom Thread-2017

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Phantom Thread-2017

Director Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, Lesley Manville

Scott’s Review #722

Reviewed January 31, 2018

Grade: A

Phantom Thread is a 2017 gem that should ideally be studied in film schools and remembered for decades to come, or at the very least discussed and dissected among those fortunate enough to see it currently.

Set in England during the 1950s and centering on the dress-making industry, the film mixes romance with a bizarre psychological element that leaves the viewer breathless as the final act comes to a dramatic and startling conclusion.

Daniel Day-Lewis brilliantly portrays Reynolds Woodcock, an esteemed and famous dressmaker who lived and worked in London in the 1950s.

He creates lavish dresses for the members of high society, including the wedding gown for the famous Belgian princess. Masterful at his work, he is also controlling and demanding, requiring plenty of support and attention from his equally controlling sister, Cyril (Lesley Manville).

When he meets Alma Elson, a waitress from a countryside resort, the pair fall into a relationship. She acts as his assistant, muse, and lover. Complexities develop between Reynolds, Alma, and Cyril as the plot progresses in cerebral and nail-biting fashion.

The film is ravishing and a feast for the eyes if only for the classic costumes alone.  Each dress that Reynolds creates is exceptional and at the height of glamour. His domineering nature only makes this realistic as perfection is his modus operandi and his dresses are evidence of this.

In one particularly fantastic sequence, Reynolds begrudgingly creates a dress for the boozy Barbara Rose, a rich and mature woman who promptly falls asleep drunk at her wedding and soils the garment.

A livid Reynolds, along with Alma, strips Barbara of the dress, rather than see her sleep in and tarnish it.

However, the main draw to the film is the excellent, intricate main plot involving Reynolds, Cyril, and Alma.

This weaving of personalities and their nuances must be attributed to the fabulous direction of Paul Thomas Anderson,  known for edgy, dark films such as 1997’s Boogie Nights and 1999’s Magnolia.

He comes up with a masterpiece in Phantom Thread.

The three principal characters are pretty unlikeable and the viewer’s allegiances may change throughout the tale. Appearing to be the innocent, debutante character of the film, the character of Alma will be surprised, especially in the film’s final act.

A successful nuance is the scenes involving characters breaking bread with others as events unfold over Danishes, omelets, and crisp asparagus. Sometimes the banter involves discussions and debates about the preparation of the food.

This characteristic is a dream for any foodie and the meals aid in the progression of the plot.

Earlier in the film, Alma is scolded by a maid for nearly picking poisonous mushrooms, which later becomes a major clue and part of the film’s conclusion.

During a pivotal scene between Reynolds and Alma, she prepares a delicious mushroom omelet for her love as motivations, secrets, and desires surface.

The grand twist that Anderson reveals at the end of the film will only leave the viewer open-mouthed and quickly reviewing the events and circumstances of the entire movie.

Anderson’s close-up scenes are magical, and each actor is allowed to be very expressive. The camerawork in several breakfast scenes—Alma and Cyril gazing at each other, revealing emotions that border between hatred and mutual respect—is effectively done.

Manville, in particular, does so much with her blue eyes as she sips coffee and peers over her cup with venomous indignation at her foe.

How splendid is the comparison of Cyril to the famous Hitchcock villainous Mrs. Danvers from the classic 1940 film in her cold and creepy mannerisms?

I hope that Phantom Thread will eventually be appreciated and analyzed as a cinematic work of art.

Deservedly honored with a 2017 Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, and Best Costume Academy Award nomination, the film is a lesson in excellent writing, bizarre angles, and essential effects.

Let’s hope that this film will be recognized as the great work it is.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Picture, Best Director-Paul Thomas Anderson, Best Actor-Daniel Day-Lewis, Best Supporting Actress-Lesley Manville, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design (won)

2014 Films, Benicio del Toro, Comedy, Crime Drama, Dark Comedy, Drama, Eric Roberts, Film noir, Hong Chau, Jeannie Berlin, Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Katherine Waterston, Martin Short, Maya Rudolph, Owen Wilson, Paul Thomas Anderson, Peter McRobbie, Reese Witherspoon

Inherent Vice-2014

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Inherent Vice-2014

Director Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin

Scott’s Review #255

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Reviewed July 7, 2015

Grade: A-

Inherent Vice (2014) is a bizarre detective film noir-type experience, set in 1970 Los Angeles.

Directed by the superb Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights-1997 and Magnolia-1999), the film has weirdness and incoherence that is a marvel to experience.

Fans of a straightforward plot will not be thrilled with this film, but for fans of Anderson, this will not disappoint. It has a complex plot, but the payoff is grand and a thinking man’s film.

The protagonist is Larry “Doc” Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix), a stoner private detective, contacted by his mysterious ex-girlfriend Shasta. She is worried about attempts by her boyfriend’s ex-wife and new lover to kidnap him and have him committed.

Mickey, Shasta’s boyfriend, is a wealthy real-estate developer.

Doc is also hired by two other people- one a former heroin addict looking for her missing husband, and the other a former convict looking for a prison mate who owes him money and is a former henchman of Mickey’s.

All of the stories intersect and such oddities as a peculiar massage parlor and a ship named the Golden Fang come into play throughout.

The intersecting stories lead to the revelation of a drug ring. I had little idea what was happening but was still enthralled by it.

There is an unpredictability surrounding Inherent Vice that is so pleasing and captivating. Joaquin Phoenix is compelling as Doc, a damaged character whose past is unclear.

When Doc is, by all accounts, framed for the murder of a convict and interrogated by the police, we wonder what history he has with them and what led him to branch out on his own as a private investigator.

Detective “Bigfoot” Bjornsen, wonderfully played by Josh Brolin, is a rival of Doc’s, though it is unclear why. “Bigfoot” is frequently seen with chocolate-covered phallic objects in his mouth and is married to a severe, overbearing woman.

Most characters are peculiar and have strange nuances, yet are never fully fleshed out, instead of remaining curious and thought-provoking.

Reese Witherspoon, Benicio Del Torro, and Owen Wilson appear in small yet pivotal roles.

Quite reminiscent of Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974) and Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye (1973), in both the California setting and the plodding, slow-paced, magnificent storytelling, Inherent Vice is a confusing gem, but by all means a gem worth seeing and reveling among the intrigue.

Just don’t try to make too much sense of it all.

Oscar Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-Robert Altman Award (won)