Inherent Vice (Blu-ray) (2014)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy / Drama	Featurette-Four Short Scenes/Trailers
Rating
Year Of Production	2014
Running Time	148:00
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Paul Thomas Anderson
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Joaquin Phoenix Josh Brolin Reese Witherspoon Owen Wilson Benicio Del Toro Martin Short Maya Rudolph Jena Malone
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Johnny Greenwood

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Czech Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Hungarian Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Polish Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Russian Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Turkish Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired Chinese Czech Greek Hungarian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Thai Turkish	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

Many years ago, when VHS was king, a friend lent me his copy of The Big Sleep, a film notorious for the complexity of its film noir plot. Along with the film my friend provided an A3 sheet on which was scrawled a whole series of diagrams connecting characters to each other in a bold attempt to make sense of the often incomprehensible.

At times such a diagram was needed when watching Paul Thomas Anderson's latest film Inherent Vice. For this is a crime and comedy film where each turn in the plot leads to another inexplicable hallway in a labyrinth. Anderson can't claim all the credit or take all the blame for the baffling plot. The film is based on a well-known novel by American writer Thomas Pynchon which has regularly been described as unfilmable. For some movie fans the film is an unstructured mess and for others it is a joyous shaggy dog story. It all depends on the way you look at it…

Things get strange right off the bat as soon as you realise that the film is being narrated not by a Hollywood star but by indie folk icon Joanna Newsome, last seen watching in dismay on Portlandia as some inept roadies attempted to stuff her harp into the back of a small car. Her narration doesn't attempt to clarify the plot, but rather gives an idea of the mood of the film.

The 60s are over. In 1970 Los Angeles Larry "Doc" Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) a private detective and frequent drug user gets a visit from an old girlfriend. She is in distress. She is having an affair with a wealthy property developer however things have taken a scary turn. The developers wife has formed a plan with her own lover to have the developer committed to a mental institution. Doc agrees to look into it.

That's just the start of the mysteries. As Doc goes about his aimless investigations he gets caught up in other stories and tangles with his collaborator/nemesis Detective Bigfoot (Josh Brolin). There are a whole lot of mysteries and dark deeds going on in Los Angeles and Doc seems to be at the centre of it.

Inherent Vice is like a screwball comedy into which a detective story has been dragged, kicking and screaming. As Doc investigates he comes across White Supremacist bikies, Black Power, police informing saxophone players, drug smugglers and the mysterious Golden Fang!

Anyone who approaches this film with a view to making sense of the story will find it unrewarding however the joy of the film is in the cascading stories and the funny characterisations from the amazing cast which includes Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio del Toro and Martin Short. The script earned a well deserved Oscar nomination.

Video

Inherent Vice comes to Blu-ray in the cinematic 1.85:1 aspect ratio.

The film was shot on 35mm film instantly giving it the look of a 1970s movie. It has a lifelike appearance with flesh tones that are accurate and colours that look genuine. There is a predominance of era specific tones expressed in the excellent visual design.

The print is clean and clear and the transfer is without obvious blemishes.

There are subtitles in English, as well as English for the Hearing Impaired, two Chinese subtitles, Korean, check, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Thai and Turkish.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

Inherent Vice carries as its prime audio track an English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack.

The disc also includes an English Dolby Digital 5.1 descriptive audio track and dubs in Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Thai and Turkish.

This is a good quality soundtrack with nice sonic separation and subtle use of the sub-woofer.

However, there is a lot of drugged out rambling, principally from Doc, which is difficult to hear-intentionally so.

The score is by now frequent collaborator Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead fame. It is another interesting track.

There are no technical problems with the soundtrack.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

The Blu-ray includes only a few extras.

• Los Paranoias(1:59),
• Shasta Fay (1:11),
• The Golden Fang (2:11)
• Everything in This Dream (5:49)

They are an odd accompaniment for an often odd film.

This Blu-ray is identical to the Region A release.Buy local.

Inherent Vice is to crime comedy is as There Will Be Blood and The Master were to straight dramas. It is odd and at times spiky - like Doc it is sometimes difficult to love but always stylish and fascinating. It is destined to be a cult movie and is definitely worth a look.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall