Inherent Vice

— I tried to see “Inherent Vice” as a remarkable film, but I kept wanting it to be a bit more coherent, perhaps even have a storyline. Instead, I got something outside the normal range of narrative, something more free-flowing and possibly free-falling. Joaquin Phoenix is very good as the stoner detective tackling a case for his former girlfriend, but the path is more a series of encounters, linked vaguely, and the situations mostly outside any control. Sometimes you start to think you’re in the same drug-induced state rampant on screen, or maybe that’s just wishful thinking. Not tidy, not quick, barely resolved. I think I have a love/hate relationship with Paul Thomas Anderson’s film where I feel like I might love them but I just can’t understand how I sat through the entire film.

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[2014. 148 min. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, and Katherine Waterston.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/inherent-vice-2014