The ensemble cast includes Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Eric Roberts, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio del Toro, Jena Malone, Martin Short and Joanna Newsom.
Inherent Vice premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 4, 2014, and began a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 12, 2014, by Warner Bros. Pictures.
He visits Mickey's Channel View Estates project, entering the only business in the developing strip mall, a massage parlor, where he meets an employee, Jade.
Doc talks to Sauncho, who tells him about the suspicious boat, the Golden Fang; the last time it sailed, Shasta was on board.
Thanks to a postcard from her, Doc finds a large building shaped like a golden fang and meets dentist Rudy Blatnoyd.
Bigfoot decides to help Doc find Coy and tells him to search for Puck Beaverton in Chryskylodon, an asylum run by a cult connected to the Golden Fang.
Mickey tells him he felt guilty for the negativity his real-estate business caused and wants to give his money away, appearing to be a happy member of the cult.
Penny, an assistant district attorney with whom Doc is having a fling, gives him confidential files from which he learns that the LAPD pays the loan shark Adrian Prussia to kill people and that one of his victims was Bigfoot's former partner.
It was first reported in December 2010 that Paul Thomas Anderson wanted to adapt Inherent Vice; at the time, he had been writing a treatment and started on a script after The Master (2012) had been shelved indefinitely months prior.
"[14] Anderson drew inspiration from The Big Sleep (1946), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye (1973), and Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke (1978).
[8][14][15] Anderson has said he tried to cram as many jokes onto the screen as Pynchon squeezed onto the page and that the visual gags and gimmicks were inspired by Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker-style slapstick spoofs like the 1982 television series Police Squad!, and the films Airplane!
[8] Anderson also used the underground comic strip Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers as what he has described as an invaluable "research bible" for the writing process.
[13] Robert Downey Jr. was reportedly interested in the role of Larry "Doc" Sportello and was making plans to start shooting in the fall of 2011 since he had dropped out of Oz the Great and Powerful (2013).
[19] In May 2013, it was reported that Benicio del Toro,[20] Owen Wilson,[21] Reese Witherspoon,[22] Martin Short,[23] and Jena Malone[23] were in talks to join the film.
[30] In June 2013, filming also took place in Pasadena, and aboard the tall ship American Pride located in Long Beach.
[14] Short stated, "If you're working with a great director, you feel very, very, very safe because you know that all the decisions will be made months later in the editing room.
"[14] The Inherent Vice soundtrack was composed by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.
[36] The score includes a version of an unreleased Radiohead song, "Spooks", performed by Greenwood and members of Supergrass.
[37] Greenwood said Radiohead's version was "a half-idea we never made work live", describing it as a pastiche of the Pixies and surf music.
The website's critical consensus reads, "Inherent Vice may prove frustrating for viewers who demand absolute coherence, but it does justice to its acclaimed source material – and should satisfy fans of director P.T.
"[44] IGN reviewer Matt Patches gave the film an 8.9 out of 10 score, saying "There's nothing certain – a surprisingly rewarding sensation that demands repeat viewings.