Stoned Filmmaking

Good luck trying to get through Inherent Vice's impenetrable haze

Director Paul Thomas Anderson has always been known for his esoteric films. In fact, he’s probably the most well-known current filmmaker to have trafficked solely in films that aren’t aimed at mainstream audiences.

Although the ads for his latest, Inherent Vice, make it seem like an accessible stoner comedy, it may be his most impenetrable film — and that’s saying something. At its center is Larry “Doc” Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix), a private eye and unabashed pothead in Southern California in 1970.

Doc is brought into a web of intrigue by his former girlfriend, Shasta Fay Hepworth (Katherine Waterston), who wants his help in preventing the man with whom she’s having an affair, Mickey Wolfmann (Eric Roberts), from being committed to a mental institution by his wife.

The ads for Inherent Vice make it seem like an accessible stoner comedy, but it may be Paul Thomas Anderson’s most impenetrable film — and that’s saying something.

The rest of the film is a meandering and seemingly never-ending series of investigations by Doc. Each lead opens multiple doors, all of which he delves into while in a haze and being hounded by detective Christian “Bigfoot” Bjornsen (Josh Brolin). The film is also narrated in dense fashion by Doc’s friend Sortilege (Joanna Newsom), and her soporific droning does more to confuse matters than enlighten.

Of course, the film is based on the book by Thomas Pynchon, who’s famous for his complex novels, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the film is similarly complicated. But just because the source material is convoluted doesn’t mean that the story couldn’t have been adapted into something more understandable.

What’s so frustrating about the film is that it does contain a multitude of undeniably hilarious moments, as if Anderson wants to tease us with his ability to appeal broadly before diving back in to more inscrutable matters. The funny scenes help keep the film moving when it threatens to get bogged down, but not enough to make up for the less interesting parts.

At two-and-a-half hours, the film is comparable in length to other Anderson films like Boogie Nights, Magnolia and There Will Be Blood. The difference, at least in those first two films, is that they contained a massive number of characters that allowed for digressions into subplots without ever feeling like you were losing momentum. In Inherent Vice, each of Doc’s detours feels like he’s leading us further and further into a rabbit hole, one from which we can never get out.

To his credit, Phoenix keeps Doc appealing throughout so that we want to see him succeed in his quest, whatever that may be. He’s no Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski, but Phoenix holds his own. Brolin, Waterston and appearances from the likes of Maya Rudolph, Martin Short and Reese Witherspoon also rescue the film at times.

But no amount of acting prowess can save Inherent Vice from its tedious fate. Anderson may have known exactly what he wanted to accomplish with the film, but he failed to translate it.

Joaquin Phoenix plays the perpetually stoned Larry "Doc" Sportello in Inherent Vice.

Joaquin Phoenix in Inherent Vice

Photo by Wilson Webb

Joaquin Phoenix plays the perpetually stoned Larry "Doc" Sportello in Inherent Vice.

Vinyl Record News

Dallas record store chain Josey Records spins new location in Garland

Josey Records

Josey Records

Vinyl at Josey Records

Dallas music maker Josey Records has extended its reach east: The record store chain, whose empire includes one of the largest single independent record stores in the U.S., has opened a location in Garland, at 1005 Northwest Hwy., at the intersection of Centerville Road, where it's selling its trademark assortment of vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, turntables, music posters, new releases, and music accessories.

This is the sixth location and the third in the Dallas area, joining the original in Farmers Branch which owners Waric Cameron and Luke Sardello opened in November 2014. They've since opened locations in Plano, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Vidalia, Missouri.

The original location is a giant place with 16,000 square feet devoted to vinyl, 45s, CDs, turntables, and T-shirts. They do a good job showcasing new releases and collector vinyl — they made CultureMap's list of 5 best places in Dallas to buy vinyl records — and are known to host album release and listening parties such as a recent blockbuster celebrating Linkin Park.

They made headlines in June 2020 when they acquired the vast musical inventory of Bill’s Records following the death of owner Bill Wisener; Cameron and Sardello both worked at Bill’s, and knew the sprawling collection first-hand.

"It has taken us years to even start going through it, but in last two years, we've made some headway," Cameron says. "Bill's has its own audience, so we created a specific Instagram account, just for Bill's Records merchandise called @billsrecordsvault."

They chose Garland because they saw it as an area that was under-served.

"There are very few record stores in that area of northeast Dallas, Casa View, Garland, Rockwall, Mesquite," Cameron says. "We have customers who live over there, so it seemed like a good place for a store."

The storefront they're in was most recently The Music Store, which sold and rented musical instruments and accessories; but coincidentally, it's next to an address that was once RPM Records, a hip record store from the '90s.

The Garland store follows the same model as their others: selling new and used records and merchandise, and buying used goods, as well.

"One thing that's cool is that each location takes on its own identity," he says. "We buy used CDs, vinyl records, cassettes — we're a used resale business — and what we buy from our customers dictates what that store becomes. For example, our Plano store has a lot of classic rock. So we're looking forward to seeing what Garland gravitates to."

Garland does have one thing that the other locations do not.

"Right now, Garland has this incredible collection of jazz," Cameron says. "We bought a great collection of jazz records — someone called and wanted to sell it. We get that a lot, we buy major collections from all over the U.S., we even make house calls. So we saved it for the Garland store."

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