PTA to take on Pynchon

Just read (yes, on one of my RSS feeds) the Paul Thomas Anderson has finally confirmed that his next project will indeed be an adaption of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice, confirming rumours that have been circulating since the start of 2011. As reported by Cigarettes and Red Vines, PTA confirmed to both Empire and ScreenDaily in interviews that he is currently working on a script for a film adaptation of Pynchon’s neo-noir detective novel set at the tail-end of the psychedelic sixties.

Credit: wikimedia,org

I actually recently read Inherent Vice and I would say the blurb on the back of my paperback sums it up pretty nicely:

It’s the tail end of the psychedelic Sixties in L.A. Private eye Doc Sportello hasn’t seen his ex-girlfriend in a while, when suddenly out of nowhere she shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer. It all spells trouble to Doc but before he knows it he is caught up in a bizarre tangle of motives and passions whose cast of characters include surfers, hustlers, dopers, and rockers, a murderous loan shark, a tenor sax player working undercover, an ex-con whit a swastika tattoo, and a mysterious entity known as the Golden Fang.

Having read a few of Pynchon’s books (currently reading Gravity’s Rainbow) and it has to be said that this would be one of a few that could actually be adapted for the silver screen. Most of his other novels are so long and complex it would be an terrible injustice to cut them down to anything less that a three film trilogy. Inherent Vice however is shorter than your typical Pynchon novel and, more importantly, it possesses a linear storyline perfect for the big screen.

PTA likened the novel to Cheech and Chong but I feel it draws much closer comparisons to the Coen Brother’s The Big Lebowski. It’s been rumoured that Robert Downey Jr. will be starring as the reluctant PI Doc Sportello and I can see that being a perfect fit. PTA did amazing things with Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love and I can see him having a similar effect on RDJ.

Credit: themovingarts.com

Anderson and Pynchon.. PWWOOAAH!