Alana Kane and Gary Valentine grow up, run around and fall in love in California's San Fernando Valley in the 1970s.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper, Benny Safdie
Release Date:
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated R for language, sexual material and some drug use.
Runtime: 2h 13m
Review:
Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza is the type of film where the plot is secondary as it focused more on capturing a time period’s feel and essence. While the film is very much set in the 70’s it does manage to capture something timeless about the random adolescent adventures that nearly everyone experienced growing up. The central romance of the film is rather chaste onscreen but still a bizarre choice since it’s made explicit multiple times that Cooper Hoffman’s Gary Valentine is underage as he pursues Alana Haim’s 25-year-old Alana Kane. It’s a distracting choice that detracts from the two linchpin performances from Haim and Hoffman who both bring an unmistakable on-screen charisma and chemistry to their role. Both actors deliver nuanced turns that are never showy or over the top but ultimately serve as the heart of the film as we follow their series of adventures in San Fernando Valley. They are fascinating to watch together onscreen because they both carrying an air of authenticity. Hoffman captures the character’s hustler mentally while Haim does equally impressive work portraying her character’s state of arrested development as she tries to find her place in the world. Famous faces pop up in small supporting turns with Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper each having a ball in their limited screen time. Anyone unfamiliar with Paul Thomas Anderson’s style might not like the pacing which isn’t in any rush to get anywhere even if the two central characters run quite a bit throughout. Licorice Pizza will connect with some people more than others depending on personal experiences but there is something universal about the moments it captures.
B+
