Inherent Vice

Part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon - private eye Doc Sportello comes, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era as free love slips away and paranoia creeps in with the L.A. fog. He is drawn into a bizarre tangle of motives whose cast of characters includes surfers, hustlers, dopers and rockers, a murderous loan shark, a sax player working undercover, an ex-con with a swastika tattoo and a fondness for Ethel Merman and a mysterious entity known as the Golden Fang, ...

It's been a while since Doc Sportello has seen his ex-girlfriend. Suddenly out of nowhere she shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer whom she just happens to be in love with. Easy for her to say.