File Under: Perhaps there are certain books which wouldn't necessarily make good films at all

Hollywood rumors! Apparently, Paul Thomas Anderson may direct an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel Inherent Vice, starring Robert Downey, Jr. Wait, wait—we know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “that sounds terrible.” Well…yes, it does. The LA Times blog, however, thinks it could be promising:

"Inherent Vice," though, could actually work. It has a coherent throughline, following Doc Sportello from beginning to end as he solves (mostly) a mystery. It hearkens back to classic noir film -- Doc tangles with the bad guys and, with a combination of wit, charm and dumb luck, finds his way to safety. There are the dames, the promise of sex, people who aren't what they seem to be. There are moneyed interests muscling in on a shaggy beach community.

So Inherent Vice is slightly less labyritine than Pynchon’s other novels—will that allow any aspect of the tone to be translated into a filmic language?

The hard part of making "Inherent Vice" into a movie will be taking the goofy Pynchon and the paranoid Pynchon, which rest comfortably together inside the novel, and pairing them on the screen. Balancing that tone will be tricky.