by Foster Harlfinger, Contributing Writer
Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest outing, the curiously named Licorice Pizza, is a warm hug of a movie. It’s the sort of film you watch when you want to leave your troubles behind and spend a cozy two hours grinning from ear to ear. Licorice Pizza exists in the same headspace as a film like Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, offering a nostalgic look at the San Fernando Valley in 1973. Anderson abandons the typical Hollywood plot structure, allowing the journey of our protagonists to unfold in a way that feels natural and spontaneous.
Cooper Hoffman — son of frequent Anderson collaborator Philip Seymour Hoffman — stars as Gary Valentine, a 15-year-old who has taken an interest in Alana Kane (Alana Haim), a bored 20-something photographer’s assistant with nothing better to do than accompany Gary on his entrepreneurial ventures. Hoffman and Haim are delightfully dorky and sufficiently hilarious as our two leads, and Anderson navigates the potentially uncomfortable age difference well in spite of his characters’ occasionally questionable decisions. As with other Anderson works like Punch Drunk Love or Phantom Thread, to call the film a romance would downplay the significant emotional complexity of our two leads. One can’t help but relate to Alana’s journey in this film as she wavers on the edge of adulthood while yearning for the simplicity of adolescence.
Licorice Pizza’s episodic structure lends itself to countless celebrity cameos, quirky side characters, and unexpected subplots. While they all offer moments of enjoyment, some of the film’s plot detours are more effective than others. Bradley Cooper stars in one particularly hilarious segment of the film as Jon Peters, the unpredictable real-life boyfriend of one Barbra Streisand. Pronounced Strei-Sand. “Like sands, like the ocean, like beaches,” as Peters gratefully reminds us. Other segments of the film like the one featuring Sean Penn and Tom Waits as frighteningly ambitious members of the film industry are marginally less enjoyable, though the film never drags. Certain vignettes may alienate one audience member while acting as the highlights of the film for another.
As always, Anderson’s direction is flawless. The visuals have a warm, cozy, and authentic feel to them that put most other period-specific films to shame. When the film’s soundtrack is not boasting tunes from the likes of David Bowie or Nina Simone, the unstoppable Jonny Greenwood is there to supply a few reliably great musical cues. Splendid, rewatchable, and delightfully meandering, Licorice Pizza is one of the year’s best.
Grade: A
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