After disliking Inherent Vice so much, I could only hope that it was a very faithful, and skillful adaptation of "problematic" source material. It made no sense to me that PTA, who had proven his story-telling skills multiple times, could make a film about people I felt absolutely no connection to. It's ultimately what makes or breaks a film for me: I need to care--on some level--about what happens to the people whose story is being told. I didn't care at all about Doc & Co.--nor what they were doing and seeking in the film. I generally enjoy movies set in the '70s (came of age in that era. Enjoying The Deuce so far, etc.)..but even that aspect of it didn't effect me positively.
I couldn't figure out, either, why the humor fell so flat for me in IV. The timing was off, and he seemed to be hitting to jokes too broadly. (And don't get me started on the trailer! A TOTAL misrepresentation of the film, in my mind.)
I'm wondering if I should try watching the film again--with the sound off. I've tried rewatching the movie twice now--and never made it more than about an hour in before just throwing up my hands (and the remote at the TV) in abject frustration.
I'm trying to remain open-minded about 'Thread', but IV did such psychic damage (yes, an exaggeration--it's just a movie) that I'm honestly got some trepidation about seeing it. It's why the 'weird' label for 'Thread' a few posts back gave me pause... I'm not against weird per-se, but it needs to be GOOD weird...