'Inherent Vice' Trailer Feels Like Paul Thomas Anderson's Funniest Film Yet

After months of not knowing much about "Inherent Vice" beyond its cast list and what's in Thomas Pynchon's 2009 novel, the movie's first trailer is here. Arriving five days before the Paul Thomas Anderson adaptation is set to make its world premiere at the New York Film Festival, the clip seems to carry the kinetic comedy of the early stages of "Boogie Nights" rather than the severe character drama of "There Will Be Blood" and "The Master," just as last week's New York Times profile of Anderson promised the movie would. (In that piece, Anderson compared the film to "Airplane!" and "Top Secret.") Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon in their first collaboration since "Walk the Line" as well as Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Benicio del Toro, Martin Short, Joanna Newsom and (apparently) Pynchon himself in a rare cameo, the '70s-set "Inherent Vice" opens Dec. 12. It could be a major awards contender.