How can you trade kilograms of pure heroin/cocaine for the release of an informant off the payroll of an anti-communist group? If this informant is too afraid to just disappear on his own with his family, how can you trust said organization to honor their word and not kill him later as a traitor? Because they got their drugs back? Same goes for the protagonist. After the drugs were taken, why didnt they just hunt him down, instead of meeting him for lunch at an expensive restaurant? Why would such an organization leave any witnesses alive to their illegal activities?
Doc didn't really "see" much in that situation though. Everything he knew was unbeknownst to the organization, all they knew was that he had the gargantuan bags of heroin, and that's all they wanted. Killing a private investigator may have called for more trouble than desired so that may have been a last resort had the sit down went sour. Or maybe they knew Doc knew plenty about them and had been exchanging information (via Coy, Jade and Bigfoot etc.), and killing him would've been a misstep as that may have given the feds more material to work with, or even bring them closer to their operations.
Besides, for all we know, maybe they were planning on killing him up until Doc turned down the compensation of money for Coy's freedom, and swore Coy to secrecy, even promising to go after Coy himself if he tried anything. I suppose no bloodshed was highly preferred to keep their operations as clean and problem free as possible. Maybe they didn't see Doc as a threat and saw no reason to kill him unless he refused to cooperate. Who knows.
Also, as for Coy, Coy's connections as informant ran so deep that snitching on the Golden Fang or anyone else, MULTIPLE organizations (probably the LAPD included) would've wanted his ass on a platter so I'm sure it was understood for him to stay quiet on all fronts, otherwise he and his family would pay the consequences
And the whole scene where the protagonist went to a drug lord, apparently thinking he was a nice guy, and escaped the handcuffs and killed the drug lord was stupid. That happens only in the movies, he should be dead of an overdose and the movie would have ended there. :(
Well it is a movie....But yeah, that's the only part where the suspension of disbelief is demanded. I believe Doc's escape in the book was even more ridiculous (I think) but I was so about everything that I just didn't bother questioning that scene (It still doesn't really bother me to be honest. I usually hate it when characters escape out of sheer luck and coincidence, but it didn't bother me that much in Inherent Vice )
And no, you're not "slow on the take." Inherent Vice is very hard to take in. Without bringing the book into it, I will say that the "incoherence" of the film is definitely an attribute that pushes the feeling of intoxication, a mind possessed with paranoia and weed on a daily basis making everything hazy, and even go as far as to question our judgement in regards to the situation. It's a movie that gets better the more you watch it, like most of Paul's movies. That's all I can say, really.
Howard Hughes was Italian?
reply
share
Barbed_Wire_Strawberry
9 years ago
Well said Smilax. And I would add a key theme in the film and book is the 'value' of information.
Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride
reply
share
MovieHoliks
9 years ago
Yes, agreed; well said Smilax. And it definitely makes me want to see the movie again...
----------------
Check out my Facebook movie group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/movie.holiks/
reply
share
Christopher_Smilax
9 years ago
If you decide to watch it again, I hope you enjoy it more!
And don't get so wrapped up around the plot. It helps best if you kinda just take the movie as it is and enjoy the ride.
Howard Hughes was Italian?
reply
share
Barbed_Wire_Strawberry
9 years ago
I'm glad I saw the film first, then read the book and have seen the movie many times since. It has given me a fairly good understanding and appreciation of both the film and book. Anyone confused but still interesting in the film (not here to post about how they didn't like it or it sucked or some garbage) should give the book a read and then see the film again.
Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride
reply
share