Fresh off their polarizing yet undeniably impressive collaboration on The Master, director Paul Thomas Anderson and Joaquin Phoenix are looking to team up for another project.  THR reports that Phoenix is now in talks to star in Anderson’s adaptation of the Thomas Pynchon novel Inherent Vice, which takes place in 1969 Los Angeles and centers on a private detective who is helping a former lover with an intriguing case that involves infidelity, mental institutions, and policemen called “Bigfoot.”  Robert Downey Jr. had long been circling the lead role, but the actor apparently decided to pass on the project.

Anderson recently described his screenplay adaptation for Inherent Vice as more “secretarial” than his adaptation for There Will Be Blood, but I wouldn’t necessarily bank on the filmmaker making a wholly accessible film—especially with Phoenix in the lead role.  The actor was a force of nature in The Master, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what the two cook up for this project.  Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures, which financed The Master, is once again producing.  Hit the jump to read a synopsis for the book.

Here’s the synopsis for Inherent Vice [via Amazon]:

Part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon- private eye Doc Sportello surfaces, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era

In this lively yarn, Thomas Pynchon, working in an unaccustomed genre that is at once exciting and accessible, provides a classic illustration of the principle that if you can remember the sixties, you weren’t there.

It’s been a while since Doc Sportello has seen his ex-girlfriend. Suddenly she shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer whom she just happens to be in love with. It’s the tail end of the psychedelic sixties in L.A., and Doc knows that “love” is another of those words going around at the moment, like “trip” or “groovy,” except that this one usually leads to trouble. Undeniably one of the most influential writers at work today, Pynchon has penned another unforgettable book.

inherent vice book cover