The Director's Series: P.T. Anderson, No. 4

Throughout 2025 I'm turning my focus to Directors. They help craft the vision on screen that makes a movie work. This year I'm looking at five favorite films from 18 directors I admire and 10 films directed by different women that I have enjoyed. Join me Fridays and Saturdays throughout 2025 as we take this journey.

Inherent Vice (2014)
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Katherine Waterston, Reese Witherspoon, and Owen Wilson
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
About: This film from P.T. Anderson is probably a bit polarizing. Some people love it and some people don't care for it. I fall into the former category, obviously. The film is adapted from the novel by Thomas Pynchon and is a detective tale set in the 1970s. It's a wild story that features some incredible dialogue lifted right from the book. It's an impressive cast and there is a lot of great craft here. The sequences and shots are really eye-catching, and the performances all around are great. I love the crackling dialogue, the choice of music, the setting and shot sequence, and the way Anderson puts this whole thing together. It's a film and a world that hooked me and brought me in, and it remains one of my favorites of his work. 

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