Inherent Vice

As we watch Joaquin Phoenix’s shambling, stoned detective saunter aimlessly through a labyrinthine plot in 1970s LA, it’s easy to see why Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye has been mentioned so frequently in relation to Inherent Vice; but this is uniquely a Paul Thomas Anderson picture, another expression of his formidable artistry and singular vision.

His adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's novel boasts numerous immediate pleasures, from the sensational comic performances by Phoenix, Brolin and others, to Robert Elswit's seductively hazy cinematography and Joanna Newsom's perfectly pitched narration; it is a film so rich and deep that one imagines subsequent viewings will yield many more gems.

Anderson's command of tone is also astonishing. While much of Inherent Vice feels like a goof – with plenty of priceless knockabout humour – it ultimately reveals a wounded, romantic heart, with a sequence set to Neil Young's Journey through the Past being just one of the many moments that will linger in your thoughts long after this entrancing film has ended. [Philip Concannon]