Licorice Pizza

A total vibe movie that you're either going to enjoy or not depending on how into that vibe you are.

Paul Thomas Anderson's latest is a nostalgic romcom of sorts about a teenager and the much older woman he wants to have a romance with in 1970s California. The film is obviously made by someone with first-hand experience of what it was like to grow up near L. A.'s entertainment industry, and the film, which is more a series of vignettes than a continuous narrative, captures the weirdness, desperation, and sometimes scariness of famous people living in a vacuum.

The film's biggest asset is Alana Haim, playing either a 25 year old or 28 year old (a blink and you'll miss it line throws some doubt on her actual age) who's oppressive Jewish household makes the antics of a child star high schooler (Cooper Hoffman, son of Phillip Seymour) at first a welcome distraction and later leads to an endearing bond between the two. The movie is winsome and enjoyable as long as it focuses on these two and their prickly relationship, but it's derailed by two lengthy segments featuring Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper that aren't as funny as Anderson seems to think they are and flab out the film's running time.

Also, much as I enjoyed the film while watching it, I couldn't shake an extreme feeling of ickiness when I started to think back on it. The age difference between Haim and Cooper is treated as mostly a non-issue within the world of the film, and their romance is served straight up -- we're obviously supposed to be rooting for them to be together. But if this were a movie about a 25 year old man romancing a 15 year old girl, it would play quite differently, and the double standard bothered me. I also felt like the script let Haim down. She's so likable and such a good actress that I was disappointed her character didn't have more growth. She's a young woman who hasn't seen much of the world but starts to thanks to Hoffman, but I wish the movie had been more about her learning that, much as she likes Hoffman as a friend, she's too old for him and has more potential than that of being his girlfriend and sidekick.

So, overall a mixed bag of a movie for me, though I was entertained watching it and would recommend it to others.

Grade: A-

This film is a good exercise in placing a story in a past decade. The production design shines with a very successful setting of the 70's. Unfortunately this is almost all that shines.

The script is repetitive and many times it doesn't get anywhere. The grounded and common appearances wanting to stand out are appreciated, but they fail to completely captivate in a totally forgettable story. There are some passages in the story that are funny, but there are others that are flat and boring.

The performances of the protagonists are good and very well supported by the big names that glow by themselves in the brief scenes in which they appear. The technical aspects such as editing and sound meet the standards of the director.

It is a movie I would never see again.

What an experience watching "Licorice Pizza" was. In terms of aesthetic qualities like the ability to put the viewer in a setting (in this case 1970s Los Angeles), a wonderful soundtrack, some rollicking fun sequences, and phenomenal cinematography. Truly a technical masterpiece in nearly every sense.

Sadly, "Licorice Pizza" is also not all that great of a film for one very specific reason: it completely and utterly lacks a plot or overall meaning to all the technical expertise.

For a very basic overview, the movie tells the story of Gary (Cooper Hoffman), a high school student with a taste for showbiz, and Alana (Alana Haim), a 25-year-old Jewish "Valley Girl" stuck in neutral but always looking for the next adventure. As the two circle around each other trying to determine their romantic wants/needs, they stumble in and out of any number of period-specific historical events/schemes, such as a fuel shortage, waterbed craze, and pinball machine ban being lifted, to name a few.

Like I said, "Licorice Pizza" is truly remarkable at setting a scene. I felt like I was back in time and nothing ever broke that illusion. I was also extremely impressed by the acting performances from newcomers (at least to the big screen) Hoffman & Haim. They are more than capable of carrying the entire film, which is exactly what they are asked to do here.

But when the credits rolled--and even some time after--I'm struggling to figure out any discernible value or lasting concepts to take from the experience. In a certain sense, the viewing experience (plot-wise) felt like a cipher to which I wasn't given the key. A whole bunch of mini-escapades transpire--all at least somewhat entertaining--and the movie just ends. No more, no less.

I very much liken "Licorice Pizza" to 2019's "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood", though I have to say I liked that Tarentino film a bit more because even it hewed to the plot--not just the spirit--of the current events it was depicting. Here, director Paul Thomas Anderson creates a movie that is almost entirely aesthetic and eschews plot/meaning entirely. As such, it is difficult for me to grade it as "good" or "bad", hence the right-down-the-middle five stars.

I had great expectations for this film and I have to say that I was disappointed. Although the 70s vibes helped me travel back in time and the direction and photography were great, the plot and the performances were weak. There was no evolution of the characters, their relationship was shallow without a sign of deeper connection. It was a movie that didn't touch me at all. I couldn't relate to any of the protagonists and I wasn't even inspired.

"Licorice Pizza" tells a meandering journey of two young lovebirds. Things happen in the film, but I don't find the events of the plot intriguing or interesting. I honestly was bored by it.