Inherent Vice, which is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Pynchon, is set in Los Angeles. It is the dawn of the seventies when private detective Larry Sportello, better known as Doc, is visited by his ex-girlfriend Shasta. She tells him about a criminal conspiracy against her wealthy new lover. Detective Doc, who lives up to his hippy image by regularly smoking dope, decides to investigate. He is soon caught up in a strange and complicated disappearance case. He gets involved with neo-Nazis, black power-activists, prostitutes, corrupt FBI-agents, a shady dental practice and a mysterious yacht.
Inherent Vice is a typical Anderson film, full of colourful characters, anarchistic humour, unexpected twists, lively acting, beautiful images and striking music. The film is both ‘film noir’ and an absurd comedy that captures superbly the spirit of the early 70s. And beneath all the exuberance lurks a more serious, melancholic undertone. Inherent Vice shows how some diehards were still clinging hopelessly to the psychedelic sixties’ ideal of freedom and bliss, while the rest of society had already taken in a new direction. Winner of 20 film awards e.g. the Robert Altman Award 2015.