Inherent Vice, one of the most anticipated movies of the fall season, just had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival last night. So, of course, that means that the first reviews have been creeping out for the movie, answering the question of "Will this movie be the Oscar contender?" The answer to that: well, it depends on who you ask.
While many have been impressed by the trailer, even leading to one of our writers posting a list of top ten moments from the two minute slice-up of footage, the reactions for the movie are about as mixed as can be.
Some, like Chris Cabin of Slant Magazine, loved the movie, as the writer wrote in his 4/4 star review that the director Paul Thomas Anderson's vision is "stunningly sharp and acute, resulting in images equally beguiling and gorgeous, but he's never balanced this control with such subtlety to get at the heart of his antic, uproarious vision of the past."
While others, like Edward Douglas of ComingSoon.net, have slammed the movie as "P.T. Anderson's most uninspired work to date and mostly a worthless waste of time," in his 3.5 out of ten stars review.
Some were plain unsure of what they thought of the movie, like Mike Ryan of Screencrush who writes, "The problem is, Inherent Vice isn’t, say, Mulholland Drive confusing – it’s still coherent enough that while watching, I still feel like I’m supposed to know what’s going on – and there’s this foreboding feeling that some sort of big reveal is coming that I was going to miss out on while the rest of the audience shrieks with approval. This hypothetical reveal never happens and, after the movie is over, it became apparent that I shouldn’t have been quite that worried because it didn’t matter," as he mulls over his thoughts.
The overlying consistent thought of these reviews remains that each critic seems aware of the fact that the plot of the movie is decidedly all-over-the-place, and not too concerned with what happens as it is what the atmosphere and feel of the movie is. Whether this makes or breaks the movie for the viewer is what critics disagree on. Some loved Anderson's oddball approach, while others thought that it made the movie a baffling mess.
Regardless, most critics also think that the movie is just too weird for some mainstream audiences and, sadly, the Academy to fully embrace. So, it looks as though this may not be the awards contender that some were hoping it would be. But audiences can check it out for themselves when it comes out on December 12 in limited release and then January 9 in a wide release.
For now, you can re-watch the trailer below: