Licorice Pizza 

Release date: Nov. 26, 2021

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman

Currently available to rent or buy on various streaming services

Licorice Pizza is another unique creation of Paul Thomas Anderson and a subtly rich and irresistibly enjoyable film.

There’s not much plot to it, but it manages to tell, simultaneously and harmoniously, at least three wonderful stories. At one level, it is, undeniably, a falling-in-love story. At another, more engaging, level it presents two independent coming-of-age narratives. And at still another level, it is an evocative memoir of California’s San Fernando Valley in the 1970s.

On top of that, Licorice Pizza is a showcase for mesmerizing performances by two novice actors. Cooper Hoffman (son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman) plays Gary Valentine, a chunky, pimply-faced teenager quo childhood actor, with vexing credibility. And Alana Haim, (one-third of Haim, the pop band she’s in with her sisters) as Alana Kane, his very ordinary looking but visually riveting 20-something love interest.

What I Liked About Licorice Pizza 

* All the key components of the movie: the direction, the cinematography, the editing, the lighting, the set design, the costuming, the soundtrack, and, of course, the acting.

* The film is full of cameos, including appearances by Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper, Benny Safdie, Maya Rudolph (Anderson’s long-time partner), and George DiCaprio (Leonardo’s father).

* An intimacy of character created by the direction and camerawork that reminded me of The Florida Project.

* I read, from some critic, that I was supposed to be offended by a bit depicting an American owner of a Japanese restaurant who speaks to his Japanese wife in a fake-Japanese broken patter. To be sure, it’s juvenile and politically incorrect. But I loved it.

What I Didn’t Like So Much 

There were a few moments during the film that felt almost too intimate, that made me feel oddly and vaguely voyeuristic.

Critical Reception 

Licorice Pizza was nominated for many awards, including three Oscars (one for “Best Picture). It won a BAFTA for “Best Original Screenplay” and was cited by the New York Film Critics as one of the “Top Films of the Year.”

 “This is lighter and sunnier than previous Anderson pictures; subtract the porn and indeed the sex from Boogie Nights and you have something like it; remove the metaphysical anxiety from Inherent Vice and that comes reasonably close, too. It’s such a delectable film: I’ll be cutting myself another slice very soon.” (Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian)

 “Licorice Pizza meanders in the best possible way: You never know where it’s going but you can’t wait to find out where it’ll end up, and when it’s over, you won’t want it to end. Once the credits finished rolling, I had no desire to get up from my seat and leave the theater, I was so wrapped up in the film’s cozy, wistful spell.” (Christy LeMire, RoberEbert.com)

You can watch the trailer here.

Interesting 

* The characters of Haim’s family – her parents and her sisters – are played by her actual parents and sisters.

* Anderson says that Gary’s character is based partly on former child actor Gary Goetzman, and partly on a kid he remembers from high school that he watched trying to chat up an older woman.

About Paul Thomas Anderson 

In 1996, at the age of 26, Paul Thomas Anderson made his first movie: Hard Eight. Since then, he’s been writing, directing, and producing almost nothing but good-to-great films. Here are some of them:

* Boogie Nights (1977)

* Magnolia (1999)

* Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

* There Will Be Blood (2007)

* Inherent Vice (2014)