Acclaimed American filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, known for films such as There will be Blood (2007) and Boogie Nights (1997), returns to the big screen with a 70s set, laidback coming of age, rom-com, the peculiarly named, Licorice Pizza. The film stars a bunch of famous faces in small but impactful roles, including Bradley Cooper, Sean Penn and Tom Waits. However the main focus lies with our two young leads, excellently played by first time actors, Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim.
The story follows the blossoming relationship between the precocious 15 year old child actor/entrepreneur Gary Valentine (Hoffman) and Alana Kane (Haim), a 20 something who isn’t quite sure what to do with her life. We watch as they run around the San Fernando Valley circa 1973, along the way running into various quirky LA locals, including a riled up Jon Peters (Cooper) and a veteran screen actor (Penn), all while experiencing the treacherous navigation of first love.
Licorice Pizza (named after an LA based 70s record store) could easily be described as a ‘hang-out’ movie, due to its loose, easy going plot. However the term ‘hang out movie’ is often used to the detriment of its quality, almost as if to say not a lot happens in terms of plot and that there’s no real stakes to any of the characters actions.
While this is somewhat true with Licorice Pizza, the better ‘hang out movies’ are always much more than that when it comes to exploring its characters. While the story can seem un-focussed at times, real life isn’t always so cohesive and structured, things just happen, sometimes out of the blue, with small but significant stakes. Licorice Pizza portrays this spontaneity perfectly.
Licorice Pizza feels like a love letter to the directionless, whether that’s through its freewheeling narrative or the characters themselves, who like the best coming of age protagonists, don’t seem to know which direction their lives are going.
As mentioned before the two central leads are brilliant in their roles, especially considering this is their first acting gig. Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, is Gary Valentine. He exudes charm and likeability as this oddly adult 15 year old, who always seems to have a new scheme up his sleeve yet still shows glimpses of childlike immaturity.
Alana Haim is also fantastic as the similarly named Alana Kane. While Gary seems to have everything sorted out, Alana is the opposite, 25 and working at Gary’s high school. She and Gary have such a charming chemistry together, which is wholly believable and a down to earth depiction of young love, complete with all the jealousy, playground insults and awkward looks.
The supporting cast is also brilliant with Bradley Cooper having a scene stealing role as famous producer and hairdresser Jon Peters. His scenes are so hilariously tense and crazy purely based on his manic performance, similar to the Alfred Molina scene in Boogie Nights.
The sun-kissed, fly on the wall cinematography, gorgeous LA setting and perfect needle drops all help perfectly capture the laidback 70s LA atmosphere. Of course the 70s were a different time culturally to now, and that shows with some of the choices here. A relationship between a 15 year old kid and a 25 year old woman will, to some, be very controversial. The same can be said for a scene involving a stereotypical representation of Asian women. However it’s these risky choices that can either make or break a film for an audience and its something the best filmmakers aren’t afraid to draw attention to.
Licorice Pizza final thoughts
PTA’s Licorice Pizza is a charming coming of age, Rom-com with breakout performances from it’s perfectly cast young leads. A freewheeling narrative, brilliant cast, gorgeous setting and cinematography make Licorice Pizza an absolute joy to watch and might be PTA’s most endearing film to date.
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