INHERENT VICE

In 1970 when the Manson Family dominated the news and there was a war pitting cops against hippies, pothead private investigator Larry 'Doc' Sportello (Joaquin Pheonix) is approached by his ex-girlfriend Shasta (Katherine Waterston) to foil the plan to commit her rich, married, real-estate mogul boyfriend Mickey (Eric Roberts) to a mental institution by his wife and her lover. Following the cast all the way down the rabbit-hole Doc encounters undercover operatives, prostitutes, dodgy LAPD, hippies, surfers and the mysterious 'Golden Fang', until there are so many people involved and so many branches that you won’t know which way is up.

Yes, the plot is overcomplicated, contrived and for the most part incoherent - but does it have style? Flare? And in the end is it all worth it? In this reviewer's opinion, no. Of course the style and the time make the film fun and interesting to look at, but when you find yourself checking your watch to see how much more of this 148 minute Rubik’s cube you have to sit through and mentally writing a shopping list to fill the “I don’t know what’s going on so I’m not even going to try” mind abyss, it’s never a good sign.