7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
Set in 1960s Los Angeles, drug-fueled detective Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates a kidnapping case. Based on the novel written by Thomas Pynchon.
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Reese WitherspoonDrama | 100% |
Dark humor | 33% |
Crime | 26% |
Period | 25% |
Film-Noir | 19% |
Mystery | 17% |
Romance | 2% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Inherent Vice teases viewers with an informal, burnt out indifference but it might just be writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson's least accessible film to date. And he knows it. Relishes it. Based on the 2007 novel of the same name by wildly elusive author Thomas Pynchon, the subversively funky, drug-addled counter-noir makes no demands yet demands everything. Your full attention above all, much as it seems that's the last thing it's asking for. It rambles, mumbles, wobbles, sighs, blows smoke, narrates hypnotically then sits idly by, and above all refuses to give chase. It doesn't care if it loses you. Confounds you. Overwhelms. Underwhelms. It runs away and races back, whispers something incoherent in your ear, mutters a joke, nabs a laugh, then lurches forward again with an inebriated, at-times infuriating, at-times mesmerizing cadence. Cases accumulate. Characters pile up. Motives criss-cross, double-cross and triple-cross three times over. You'll almost certainly need to commit to more than one viewing, if only to better track what the hell is going on. And still Anderson presses the advantage, challenging, cultivating, ducking and weaving, inviting his audience in; once, twice, again and again, spinning them in circles before asking 'em to walk a straight line. You thought The Master was divisive? You ain't seen nothin' yet.
Shot with 35mm Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2 cameras, Inherent Vice arrives on Blu-ray with a striking 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that's faithful to Anderson and cinematographer Robert Elswit's photography. While a variety of scenes are bathed in natural light that sometimes dilutes the vibrancy of primaries, colors and skintones remain nicely saturated and lifelike throughout, contrast is filmic and satisfying, and black levels are well-preserved. There are numerous instances of muted shadows and several somewhat problematic sequences shot in low light, along with a prevailing softness, but each is inherent to the source and rarely a distraction. Not so inherent? Faint, easily overlooked edge halos are visible here and there (as was the case in the film's theatrical presentation), and crush is an almost negligible nuisance. Again, though, filmfans will be too busy with the image's quality to care about such small, infrequent issues. Detail is quite good, with wonderfully resolved fine textures and an unobtrusive veneer of grain, and close-ups are outstanding, with an impressive level of clarity. Moreover, the encode doesn't exhibit signs of any significant macroblocking, banding, errant noise or other anomalies. Bottom line: Inherent Vice couldn't look much better than it does here.
No disappointment here either. Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track delivers the goods. Dialogue is tricky to evaluate, as several scenes feature near-indecipherable mumbling or muttering -- subtitles are our friends! -- but that very deliberate element of the film's sound design should in no way reflect on the quality of the lossless mix. Voices are clear and intelligible when they're meant to be, and perfectly suited to the tone and tenor of Anderson's chosen style and approach to Pynchon when they're not. Low-end output is subdued but strong, dynamics are excellent, and the rear speakers, though reserved, do a great job creating convincing dives, hotspots, hotel rooms, cramped offices, mansions, rehabilitation clinics. Directional effects and ambience are handled with care, cross-channel pans are smooth, and Jonny Greenwood's music haunts the soundscape beautifully. Even when Inherent Vice is at its quietest or most erratic, Warner's lossless track holds true to Anderson's every intention.
Paul Thomas Anderson has never been a filmmaker of the people, but Inherent Vice will even divide the faithful Anderson fold. Savoring all it has to offer requires multiple viewings (if only to be rid of the expectations that tend to taint the first viewing), a keen eye, and patience, patience, patience. There's richness here, as well as a psychedelic verve that embraces the genre and subverts it, captures Pynchon without being beholden to him, and carves out another unique corner of the Anderson canon. Warner's Blu-ray is excellent too, so long as you aren't hoping for any special features of substance. There aren't any. What you will find is a terrific AV presentation; one that makes those multiple viewings that much easier to absorb.
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4K Restoration
1973
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Includes They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! and The Organization on standard BD
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1981
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1950