Beaks here...
Paul Thomas Anderson isn't fucking around.
With his latest film, THE MASTER, inspiring some of the most interesting criticism I've read this year, Anderson has revealed to Empire that he's eager to move forward with his adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's INHERENT VICE.
In his chat with Empire, Anderson describes the reclusive author's 2009 novel as a "Cheech and Chong movie." I have yet to read it, but reviews have suggested that the book bears some resemblance to THE BIG LEBOWSKI, in that it concerns a stoner private eye's misadventures in Los Angeles (I'm told the similarities end there). This would be the first full-fledged attempt at bringing a Pynchon work to the big screen, which is momentous enough to get some outlets excitedly proclaiming that Anderson is also planning to take on the author's sprawling masterpiece GRAVITY'S RAINBOW. Unfortunately, I can find no evidence of this online, so let's just chalk that up to wishful thinking for now.
If, however, Anderson was ambitious enough to tackle one of the most challenging novels of the twentieth century, I agree with screenwriter Matthew Robinson's comment that the filmmaker would be "taking a giant swing at the Kubrick fence". C'mon, PTA. You know you want to do it.
It is expected that Robert Downey Jr. will play the lead role in INHERENT VICE. He's been attached to the project for over a year.
