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Inherent Vice follows perpetually stoned private detective Larry “Doc” Sportello (played by Joaquin Phoenix) as he investigates the disappearance of his ex’s new boyfriend and makes some wild discoveries along the way.

Cheech & Chong, director Paul Thomas Anderson’s admitted inspirations behind this Inherent Vice adaptation, exemplify the comedy subgenre known as “stoner” films. Basically, these are movies that deal with marijuana, either in the comic (and generally positive) depiction of their use or the common use of marijuana among private audiences viewing the film. Virtually every critic, regardless of their opinion of Inherent Vice as a standalone film, has described it as such. One would be hard-pressed not to find a review that didn’t use the term “druggy,” “hazy,” “baked,” “half-baked,” “buzzed,” “groovy” or “headtrip” at least once.

So what to make of a stoner film? Are they recreational novelties, credible art films, or, if both, where does the balance lie?

Jim Hoberman’s “The Cineaste’s Guide to Watching Movies While Stoned,” a humorous and sincere take on watching movies under the influence of marijuana, emphasizes the experience. “To watch a movie truly stoned was not simply to enjoy more vivid color and oceanic sound; it was to experience a state of acute defamiliarization mixed with heightened idiocy. Time stood still and reverberated like a tuning fork or the BOOIIING! of a cartoon character hit by a falling safe. Everything was a non sequitur; it was impossible to distinguish between intentional and unintentional humor. Infuse your mind with sufficient cannabis and Gidget Goes Hawaiian turns into Last Year at Marienbad, while Last Year at Marienbad—which I first saw with a brain full of fumes in a Berkeley classroom—becomes a stone goof. Marijuana made a movie more immersive, even as it guaranteed that in the absence of a second joint, the sensory bombardment of the first forty minutes were bound to be the most fun—before the pot wore off and the narrative brought you down.” More succinctly, “filtered through a haze of grass, that which was simple is now complex, while that which was complex becomes unintelligible, and who really cares?” This is arguably an accurate description of Inherent Vice, a film where the simple appears complex, and that which is complex appears more likely unintelligible. Whether or not it makes any sense seems to be of little concern to its biggest admirers. In other words, you could argue this is a stoner film that mimics the experience as best as a film can without any actual indulgence on the part of the audience.