Joaquin Phoenix plays an eccentric private dick in the first new trailer for 'Inherent Vice.' (Photo: ScreenCap)

Joaquin Phoenix plays an eccentric private dick in the first new trailer for ‘Inherent Vice.’ (Photo: ScreenCap)

Joaquin Phoenix steals the first new trailer for the upcoming Paul Thomas Anderson film “Inherent Vice,” in a role that is as eccentric and odd-ball as any he has ever played. Reese Witherspoon also makes an appearance.

“Inherent Vice,” is a crime drama based on the Thomas Pynchon novel.

Witherspoon and Phoenix team up again after their stellar performance together in the 2005 film “Walk the Line,” a biopic about country singer Johnny Cash.

She played wife June Carter Cash opposite Phoenix’s Johnny and won an Oscar for best actress.

“Inherent Vice” also stars Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Jena Malone and Joanna Newsom.

The trailer unfolds in Los Angeles in 1970. Larry “Doc” Sportello, (Phoenix) a private investigator, also known as a pothead “Dick,” receives a visit from his statuesque ex-girlfriend Shasta Fay Hepworth, played by Waterston.

She’s having an affair with a wealthy real estate mogul, Mickey Wolfmann, played by Eric Roberts. Wolfmann’s wife Sloane (Serena Scott Thomas) and her boyfriend hatch a plot to have Mickey declared insane, according to the novel.

Shasta wants Doc to foil the plot, a task that takes him into the shady Los Angeles’ underworld.

It’s not exactly a smooth gig.

Check out the clip below, let us know your thoughts and be sure to follow IM on Twitter for the latest movie news.