Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice is a film, that at some level, defines definition. The Wikipedia blurb calls it a "2014 American stoner crime comedy-drama film." An adaptation by Paul Thomas Anderson elusive picture comes from a similarly elusive author, Thomas Pynchon. It was rumored Pynchon had a cameo in this winding film starring a hippie named Doc, portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix. However it's unclear where the cameo comes in as nobody knows what Pynchon looks like in 2014.

     Shot by Robert Elswit, who collaborated with Anderson on Boogie Nights and Punch Drunk Love among others, creates a beautiful and elaborate  aesthetic that matches the flow of Pynchon's prose.

The plot is entirely convoluted and complex, but the story is pretty simple. Doc's ex girlfriend, Shasta Fey, is mixed up with some bad people. Doc, a private eye, tries to crack the case. All under the constant supervision of the straight-laced hippie hater Lt. "Bigfoot" Bjornsen breathing down his neck. All while Doc is really, really high. Which is a lot of fun.

 Vice could be a straight laced drama if it weren't for the lyrical prose of Pynchon. The difference between comedy and drama is surprise, which Anderson works with well. Whether it's Doc's reaction to the stillborn baby of heroin addicts or it's Owen Wilson coming out of the fog or the fact that Benicio Del Toro plays Doc's lawyer who is an expert in maritime law.

Paul Thomas Anderson leads us to the resolution of the case. But like the novel, the film is more about the journey than the destination. The case falls by the wayside as the story shows more of Doc's struggle with finding love. Shasta Fay is a catalyst for the mystery but also for Doc's regret. Anderson does a masterful job of portraying all this complex human emotion while surprising the audience.

Surprising and beautiful enough for this to be the best stoner crime comedy-drama of 2014. 

Master of None and Organic Dramedy

    Last year Aziz Ansari stepped out of stand up comedy and became a showrunner. He released the first season of his Netflix show Master of None which focus on a fictionalized version of Aziz's life. Aziz plays Dev, an actor who predominately does commercial, who deals with a slew of social issues.   

The show features a diverse cast. Main characters include a black lesbian and an asian best friend. The only established name, besides Ansari, is Eric Wareheim. Eric, of Tim and Eric, brings an oddity to the show that mostly sits in reality. The romantic lead, Rachel, is played by Noel Wells, who was on SNL for a season.

The show is structured interestingly. Each episode stands on it's own for the most part and each deals with a social issues. Episode titles range from "Grandparents" to "Plan B". Dev talks about the first Indian person he saw on tv was actually a white actor in brown face. There are two plot lines that weave throughout the series: Dev has a small role in a major action film called The Sickening and Dev and Rachel's relationship.
Dev and Rachel's relationship is a microcosm of what the show makes the show so good. Dev and Rachel meet and hook up and after a condom malfunction they go to the pharmacy and get plan b. They meet a few months later at a party but Rachel has a boyfriend. This sort of complicated relationship beginnings are common today. It is these awkward realities that create comedy. It is also these realities that create drama. Dev and Rachel take a date to Nashville which showcases the couples' ability to work together and Dev's flaws. There is an episode the exists entirely in Dev's apartment that spans the stretch of time from when Rachel moves in until when she decides to move out. 

     Master of None takes issues of social justice such as minority and female representation and shows them in as a realistic light as its relationships. It's this reality that makes Master of None so funny and so sad. I think this blend of comedy, drama, and social awareness makes for something very powerful in just how real it can be. It's my favorite show on Netflix and a very promising start for a young showrunner/stand up comedian.

The Graduate

     I've been watching a lot of dramatic comedies lately to get into the mindset of what I want my movie to 'feel' like. The Graduate might be the most famous dramatic comedy, or dark comedy, of all time. So I rewatched it to try to get a quick master class of funny/sad that Mike Nichols seemed to do so well. 

     The Graduate is a movie that seems to defy explanation. Even Roger Ebert was greatly divided on the film. When he first saw it he called the movie "the funniest American comedy of the year". When he reviewed it again for the 30th anniversary special he called it "a movie about a tiresome bore and his well meaning parents."

     What I think divides the younger and older Roger Ebert, and people in general, is that Dustin Hoffman's character, Ben Braddock, doesn't really change. The beginning of the film tells a lot thematically. Ben is on a moving walkway in an airport and while he is "moving forward" he is not walking or moving himself anywhere. People pass him and he watches them go by. Ben is also facing towards the left, which in traditional American film means going backwards or against the grain.

    Throughout the course of the movie Ben doesn't do much. He sits in his pool and ignores his family friends. The main conflict of the film, Ben's affair with Mrs. Robinson, is started not by Ben but by Mrs. Robinson. The argument can be made that Ben changes when he falls in love with Elaine and follows her to Berkley and then again follows her to her wedding. 

     But Ben's reasons are still completely selfish. He is in love with Elaine because she is in the same "not moving" position he is. There are several moments where this is implied in the cinematography, most famously the runnning scene.

   This begs the question that is asked every god damn semester in every film class. In film, does the main character have to change? I'd argue no. Ben doesn't change much in The Graduate. But what does have to happen is that audience has to see that the character has the ability to change but, for whatever reason, does not. Nichols shows this inability to change as a tragedy as Ben and Elaine pull away. What we thought was a happy tale of romance is just the characters realizing they haven't changed.

     My goal for this semester is to make a movie where a character is given multiple opportunities to change but ultimately fails to do so. I think it's a powerful form of story telling that encourages introspection. While it is easy to say this, and showcase a movie in which this happens, it will be difficult to pull off. It will require constant rewriting and meticulous shot planning. I never thought I would say this but I disagree with Roger Ebert. The Graduate is a film that stands the test of time. Not as a comedy, but as a complex movie about depression and the selfishness in passiveness.