Paul Thomas Anderson makes two, maybe three full-length films per decade -- the last three were Punch-Drunk Love (2003), There Will Be Blood (2007) and The Master (2013) -- and he rarely makes any that aren't very good, if not excellent.
It is thus unsurprising that movie buffs have been anxious to see his upcoming movie, Inherent Vice, and while the theatrical release is still a ways off (Dec. 12, 2014, in the U.S.), at least now we can all feast on the movie's first trailer.
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Based on a Thomas Pynchon novel of the same name and featuring an all-star cast -- no, seriously, EVERYONE is starring, including Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Reese Witherspoon and Benicio Del Toro -- the movie is essentially a '70s crime story, but definitely not an ordinary one.
Joaquin Phoenix plays Larry "Doc" Sportello, a private investigator tasked by his ex-girlfriend (Katherine Waterston) to investigate a plot against her millionaire now-boyfriend, Mickey Wolfmann (Eric Roberts).
Apparently, Mickey's wife and her lover are trying to commit Mickey to a mental institution. From there, things (in the book, at least), unfold in a multitude of odd directions, involving secret organizations, government informers, Nazis, undead saxophone players, contract killers and a lot of stolen heroin.
The movie has somewhat of a noir feel to it and seems lighter in tone than the intensely dark There Will Be Blood. And, from what we can see of Joaquin Phoenix's manic performance, it also seems like a ton of fun.
Check out the trailer above and the official poster for the movie, posted on Facebook by the Inherent Vice official page, below.
