Another look at Joaquin Phoenix in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Last week we got our first look at Joaquin Phoenix and Josh Brolin in Paul Thomas Anderson’s highly anticipated INHERENT VICE. Now typically the Internet wouldn’t go crazy for an image from what might be classified as one of the more quiet movies of the year, but this is Paul Thomas Anderson and it’s the adaption of INHERENT VICE! That’s two of my favorite things ever just so we’re all clear. The latest image offers a closer look at Phoenix as private investigator Larry “Doc” Sportello.

First here’s a brief synopsis of the novel by Thomas Pynchon:

In Los Angeles in 1970, drug-fueled detective Larry “Doc” Sportello investigates the disappearance of a former girlfriend.

I’ve put the two images here so we can all take in the mutton chops and flat tops in full. First up is last week's image via EW with Phoenix and hard-ass cop “Bigfoot” Bjornson, played by Josh Brolin. That's followed by the shaggy Phoenix, take it all in ladies.

The Film Society at Lincoln Center got this image to run with an interview with NYFF Director and Selection Committee Chair Kent Jones. He talked about INHERENT VICE saying “Inherent Vice is also [an amazing cinematic ride] in a completely different way. It’s like being in a time machine, going back to the time of mutton chops and Neil Young.” Sold even more. I can’t wait to see a trailer for this one; if there are any other Pynchon fans out there, you know as well as I do how long we’ve been waiting for an adaption like this.

Also leading the all-star cast are Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio Del Toro, Jena Malone, Eric Roberts, Martin Short, Maya Rudolph, and Michael K. Williams.

INHERENT VICE is set to premiere at the New York Film Festival in October ahead of a limited U.S. release on December 12, 2014. The movie expands on January 9th 2015.