It was revealed last week that Joaquin Phoenix will not become Dr Strange after two months of negotiations. This weekend he was at the New York Film Festival, looking very relaxed, representing Doc Sportello, his character in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice. And the difference in the two films is pretty much the explanation for why he’s not becoming a superhero.
Reviews for Inherent Vice have ranged from ecstatic to OK middle-whelmed, but everyone seems to agree that it’s an acquired taste, not widely accessible, more for a cult following than for a wide audience. And that’s generally where Joaquin Phoenix lives. But not really where the Academy lives. Inherent Vice might not get invited. Which… Joaquin probably doesn’t mind.
