Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice is a 2014 American neo-noir black comedy crime film written for the screen, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, based on the 2009 novel by Thomas Pynchon. The ensemble cast includes Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Eric Roberts, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio del Toro, Jena Malone, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short and Joanna Newsom. The film follows Larry "Doc" Sportello, a well-intentioned but fumbling stoner, hippie, and private investigator embroiled in the criminal underworld of 1970 Los Angeles, investigating three cases linked by the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend and her wealthy new boyfriend.

Anderson's adaptation of Inherent Vice had been in development since 2010, and is the first Pynchon novel to be adapted for the screen. Anderson was previously inspired by Pynchon's novel V. while writing the screenplay for The Master (2012), and would go on to loosely adapt Vineland into One Battle After Another (2025). It is Anderson's second collaboration with Phoenix, following The Master, and involves a number of his other collaborators, including producers Daniel Lupi and JoAnne Sellar, cinematographer Robert Elswit, editor Leslie Jones, and composer Jonny Greenwood.