Inherent Vice is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. The acting ranges from excellent to sublime. The art direction is matter-of-fact, not the usual showy stuff that beats you over the head like OMG LOOK CAN YOU BELIEVE HOW 70S THIS IS?!?! And that’s just one part of a package deal that’s amazingly consistent: locations, casting, costumes, lighting, cinematography, score, editing, the works are all very low-key. It must’ve been tempting to play up Pynchon’s craziness — like Terry Gilliam did to HST in his unbearable rendition of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas — but, if anything, Paul Thomas Anderson downplayed the novel with blithe confidence. Parts of it are incredibly funny, but through subtlety, not one-liners. “Refreshing” was just about the last thing I expected, but that’s exactly what it was.