Josh Brolin Says 'Inherent Vice' Goes "In A Direction That The Book Doesn't Necessarily Go"

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What do we know so far about “Inherent Vice“? Frankly, not a helluva lot outside of the fantastic ensemble cast and the return of Johnny Greenwood to the composer’s podium. Even with a release date set for later this year, “Inherent Vice” was curiously absent in Warner Bros. presentation this week at CinemaCon (though we really don’t see Paul Thomas Anderson being convinced by anybody to splice sizzle footage from his movie for an industry conference). But there has been one person talking loudly about the project: Josh Brolin. Last fall, the actor caught our attention by calling the shoot “great” and “absolute fucking chaos,” and he’s now offered up a few more tantalizing observations about the production on what kind of movie PTA may be delivering.

Chatting recently with Ireland’s Independent, Brolin once again made it sound like the shooting of the movie was unlike anything he’s experienced. “I just did a movie for P.T. Anderson that I didn’t understand,” he said. “The writing of Thomas Pynchon is so Shakespearean. It was crazy, chaotic but really, really gratifying.”

So far, the biggest question around the movie was how Thomas Pynchon’s tale about an inept, pot-smoking private detective who investigates the case of a kidnapped girl, who also happens to be one of his ex-girlfriends, would be adapted. Would it be a straight page-to-screen rendering? Or would PTA, like he did with Upton Sinclair‘s “Oil!” for “There Will Be Blood,” merely use the foundation as a springboard? It appears to be the latter, with Brolin saying: “We took it I think in a direction that the book doesn’t necessarily go, hoping it will work.” 

Of course, this just makes us even more curious and excited about whatever PTA has cooking, and we’re hoping it works, too. “Inherent Vice” arrives on December 12th.