Inherent Vice

Set in the hazy, paranoid days of early 1970s Los Angeles, Inherent Vice follows hippie private investigator Doc Sportello as he stumbles through a labyrinthine mystery involving his ex-girlfriend, a missing real estate mogul, and shadowy criminal organizations. Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's novel is a sun-soaked neo-noir that blends melancholy romanticism with stoner comedy, capturing the dying embers of the 1960s counterculture. The film is as much about the end of an era as it is a detective story, with Joaquin Phoenix delivering a deeply nuanced, physical performance at its heart.

• Based on Thomas Pynchon's only novel adapted into a film.
• Joaquin Phoenix reportedly stayed in character throughout the entire shoot.
• Paul Thomas Anderson directed from his own screenplay adaptation.
• The film features over 70 speaking characters in total.
• Josh Brolin based his character on a specific LAPD detective.

• Doc, you know what a bummer is? The fact that we're all gonna die.
• Under the paving stones, the beach.
• Even if it's only a little bit, even if it doesn't matter, even if everything is hopeless.
• People are supposed to get what they pay for. That's the American way.
• They've been tryin' to stamp us out and we just keep poppin' back up.