Licorice Pizza (2021) Review - Director Series
I actually reviewed this film when it was first released in theaters back in 2021. Here is a link to the review for Movieboozer. I was surprised to see that I still agree with most of my original review. Below is a revised version of my review, incorporating quotes from the original and occasionally expanding upon them.
Anderson once again returns to his San Fernando Valley roots. The Valley has become synonymous with Paul Thomas Anderson. Not only has he gone back to his roots, but he has also returned to the 70s.
This time, it’s a coming-of-age tale about the difficulties of being in the mid-teens to mid-twenties. It stars two newcomers, Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim, of the Haim sisters fame. Plus, a slew of incredible celebrity cameos and one-off appearances.
“Speaking of these two newcomers, good lord, are they revelations. Cooper Hoffman, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s son, is brilliant. He’s confident and completely owns the screen. He has the worldly charm of a grown man, yet he is 18. I was astounded by his maturity and cannot wait to see what else he will do. He’s a serious charmer.”
Nailed this analysis of Cooper; he has become a bright young star in Hollywood, still working today. He just helmed the latest Stephen King adaptation, The Long Walk. It’d be hard to fill his father’s shoes, but he’s going to have a long film career.
“The other revelation is Alana Haim. If I had one word to describe her, it would be magnetic. You cannot take your eyes off of her anytime she is on screen. It’s like she commands your attention.
With this being her first movie, you’d think she was playing herself with how effortlessly she acts in this film. Equally funny, sad, heartbreaking, and delivering serious drama. I think in 5 years we will look back and see this performance as one of the best PTA movie performances.”
I don’t know, on a rewatch and having rewatched his entire filmography, I would say this is one of the best performances in a PTA film. However, I can still confidently say Alana is brilliant. But this wasn’t the star-making performance I thought it would be.
It should’ve been, and maybe it’s Alana who isn’t interested in being a movie star. I will always be glad to see her pop up on screen, like later this year in another favorite director of mine’s new film, The Mastermind.
PTA deserves some credit for these brilliant performances. He is a real actor’s director. Understanding what it takes to get great performances out of his actors, even first-time actors. He said in an interview that he just makes sure that he creates a comfortable environment on set. If the actors are comfortable, they can give their best work.
These two young and inexperienced actors were clearly put in a great situation to succeed. If they were with a lesser or toxic director, it’s possible we wouldn’t get these performances, and their careers would look very different.
I love this script, a series of vignettes that play as if someone is reminiscing about their favorite summer growing up and all the shenanigans they got into. Many filmmakers made films about their experiences growing up, which seemed to have kicked off with Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma. This is definitely one of the best, because it’s not a rose-colored glass film, nor a tumultuous time seen through the eyes of a kid.
“Something I think is either being misconstrued or completely missed by some people. People are tossing this film aside because of the age gap between Gary (Cooper) and Alana (Alana) at 15 and 25. It’s not about a sexual relationship. It’s about being that age and any age in between and still not feeling like you belong anywhere.
Every grown man that Alana is around or likes/dates is either a mess or completely fake. But here is Gary, who is being nothing but genuine and likes Alana for herself. This also explains the racist restaurant owner.
Showing that Alana and Gary do not belong or feel like they don’t belong with the generation before, the current one, or after. It amazes me people would think PTA did anything surface level-wise.”
Remember the stupid discourse around this film? If not, you have/had a healthy relationship with Twitter. I still agree with my sentiment above from my original review. That feeling of not belonging to your age group and finding the one person who feels the same. Maybe they won’t end up together, but they will always have this summer together.
In a sense, it’s like PTA’s continual theme of found family; this is like finding your people, but Alana and Gary have good families that they can connect with. Maybe Gary more so than Alana. But they’re not looking to replace their family, just to find someone who understands them.
With vignettes comes an ability for PTA to do something he is great at: writing on scene characters.
“Philip Seymour Hoffman’s fast-talking gambler in Hard Eight. Alfred Molina’s cocaine-fueled drug dealer in Boogie Nights.”
PTA wrote several in his film. Bradley Cooper plays real movie producer Jon Peters. It’s an amazing 10-minute performance. He oscillates between angry and horny, breaking windows only to immediately ask a woman if she likes peanut butter sandwiches.
Not only Cooper, though, as Tom Waits and Sean Penn are equally unhinged in a one-scene performance. Penn possibly plays a William Holden-esque aging actor who recreates a famous scene from his filmography on a motorcycle.
Lastly, as a casting director, she is unhinged, the camera up close uncomfortably on her face, just as Alana feels uncomfortable talking to her. Being asked tons of questions, being compared to a tiger, and being told she’ll miss out on work if she doesn’t work nude. Harriet comes into this game, hits seven threes in two minutes, and then heads back to the bench.
Paul Thomas Anderson is my favorite director. I wish we got a movie from him once a year, but I am ok waiting every 4-5 years if he is always going to knock it out of the park like he does here. I cannot wait for One Battle After Another. As of writing this review, I have not seen it yet. But I am excitedly anticipating the film.
4.5/5 Stars
