Paul Thomas Anderson refuses to be labeled and has backed that up with a wildly eclectic filmography. (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Licorice Pizza, Phantom Thread, The Master, There Will Be Blood).

His latest is a sharply observed satirical thriller, a very loose adaptation of novelist Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 Vineland, that satirizes extremism, both left and right, against a background of political undertones and allegory. It’s also wonderfully silly. 

Perfidia Beverly Hills, a firebrand leftist bomb-thrower (a dynamite Teyana Taylor) and her laid-back stoner partner Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio), a bomb-maker, once waged war against a government cabal led by the highly racist Col Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn, overacting, but, you know, in a good way) who was sexually obsessed with Ms Hills. When she gave birth to a lovely daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti), she showed little interest in Motherhood. She eventually turned state’s evidence and disappeared into witness protection. And then disappears from that. 

Things heat up 16 years later with the reemergence of Col Lockjaw, batshit-crazier than ever, now connected with a shadowy white-power organization and convinced that Willa is his daughter. It’s billed as an action comedy, but the funny bits are buried in deadpan throwaway gags. The chase scene (the action part) at the end, however, is the best since Bullit. And funnier.

The excellent supporting cast includes Benicio Del Toro and Regina Hall. All the characters are well defined, but there is no central figure. Big screen, please, for the astounding layered sound design and the spot-on score by Johnny Greenwood.

(161 min)

Curious about more bold and brilliant films? Explore our reviews of other cinematic standouts like: How to Train Your Dragon, or the newest one: The Monkey.