Confession: I’m an English major nerd who devoured Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice in a couple days during a beach vacay a couple years ago. A psychedelic and surreal surfer noir whodunit set in early 1970s SoCal, the book is a very-accessible Pynchon masterpiece. I hate to draw the very obvious comparisons to The Big Lebowski in theme and tone (get used to that comparison a lot in the coming months before this movie comes out), but honestly that’s the closest comparison I can draw to Inherent Vice.
Book dweebs like myself have anxiously been awaiting Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie adaption of the novel. Over the weekend the New York Times profiled the legendary director of Boogie Nights and Magnolia, focusing on his work adapting the novel to film. It features Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon in leading roles (Walk The Line, anyone?), as well as Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Benicio del Toro, Martin Short, Joanna Newsom, and — cue Simpsons reference here — a very rare Thomas Pynchon cameo.
Anyway, I’ll gush about how excited I am for this movie at a later date. But you need to know that the first trailer just dropped and I’m poop-my-pants excited for it. Joaquin Phoenix… Those mutton chops are beautiful, Bro.