Inherent Vice is easily in my Top 5 list for 2014 and I have a feeling it's a movie that will stick with me for quite some time and become a staple of my Blu-ray player for years to come.  Paul Thomas Anderson's latest film has understandably confounded some people who have been spending the running time of the piece trying to solve the central mystery.  Let me tell you right now, that's not the point.  This is a movie about the journey, not the destination.  The destination, such as it is, is the feeling you're left with when leaving the theater, which for me was pitched perfectly between whimsical and mournful.

And, if you live in San Francisco, you have a wonderful opportunity to get an early look at the historic Castro Theater.  Proceeds benefit the John Burton Foundation, which helps homeless children.  The whole thing goes down on Thursday, December 11th and you can get tickets here.   Inherent Vice opens in limited release on December 12th before going wide on January 9th.  It stars Joaquin Phoenix, Katherine Waterston, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio Del Toro, Eric Roberts, Martin Short, Sasha Pieterse, Joanna Newsom, and more.  I've included the new trailer before the jump for those of you on the fence.

Via Warner Bros.

Here’s the official synopsis for Inherent Vice:

“Inherent Vice” is the seventh feature from Paul Thomas Anderson and the first ever film adaption of a Thomas Pynchon novel.  When private eye Doc Sportello’s ex-old lady suddenly out of nowhere shows up with a story about her current billionaire land developer boyfriend whom she just happens to be in love with, and a plot by his wife and her boyfriend to kidnap that billionaire and throw him in a looney bin…well, easy for her to say.  It’s the tail end of the psychedelic `60s and paranoia is running the day and Doc knows that “love” is another of those words going around at the moment, like “trip” or “groovy,” that’s being way too overused – except this one usually leads to trouble.  With a cast of characters that includes surfers, hustlers, dopers and rockers, a murderous loan shark, LAPD Detectives, a tenor sax player working undercover, and a mysterious entity known as the Golden Fang, which may only be a tax dodge set up by some dentists…  Part surf noir, part psychedelic romp – all Thomas Pynchon.