The story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.
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Reviews
r96sk
7
By r96sk
I can't say I enjoyed 'Licorice Pizza' as much as most, but this flick from Paul Thomas Anderson is a good one.
Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman are entertaining in the lead roles, with Haim particularly standing out - though Philip Seymour Hoffman's kid definitely improves as the film ticks by. There are some amusing roles for more well known faces, my favourite parts of this 2021 release are in fact with one of them - funny stuff! Some parts are amiss, mind; e.g. the strange Japanese wives bits.
I did find the dialogue a little pretentious I can't lie, mainly early on as we get to know the characters - once everything is fleshed out and set it's all shipshape, to be fair. The film gets a tad aimless near the end, I'd actually say the pacing is perfectly fine but it does feel as long as it is in terms of the run time - I felt every second of the 130 or so minutes.
All in all, I'd recommend it. Major film buffs will lap it up, evidently.
The is a real colourful oddball of a movie.
From start to finish we are instantly thrown into Alana´s journey and are taken trough a series of strange situations and developments.
There is no pre-development or little to be told about the main characters history. The movie is a moment-to-moment tag-along story of romance and its ups and downs. However i enjoyed the little humour moments in it and i had to giggle at times.
Catches the 70´s vibe mighty good and i personally enjoyed every moment of it.
Of course the woke community had to react to this movie but there is nothing to be offended about anything.
Enjoy the film.
badelf
8
By badelf
Licorice Pizza: Paul Thomas Anderson's Masterful Meditation on Becoming
In "Licorice Pizza", Paul Thomas Anderson does what he does best: he transforms the messy, uncertain terrain of human becoming into a luminous, deeply compassionate narrative.
Set in the San Fernando Valley of the 1970s, the film follows Alana and Gary - two souls navigating that treacherous landscape between adolescence and genuine adulthood. Their relationship isn't a traditional romance, but a complex dance of aspiration, confusion, and tentative connection.
Anderson's distinctive cinematic language is perfectly suited to this narrative. His episodic structure mirrors the non-linear path of personal discovery. Scenes drift and connect like memory itself - impressionistic, unpredictable, charged with both humor and melancholy.
Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman are nothing short of revelatory as first-time actors. Their performances transcend typical debut expectations, displaying a raw, intuitive understanding of character that many seasoned professionals never achieve. Haim, particularly, brings a complex emotional landscape to Alana - vulnerable yet defiant, lost yet determined. Hoffman channels a pitch-perfect blend of teenage bravado and genuine vulnerability. They're not performing characters so much as revealing the raw, unfinished nature of human potential. Their performances feel less like acting and more like witnessed life.
The 1970s backdrop isn't mere nostalgia. It's a metaphor for cultural transition - a moment when traditional narratives are dissolving and new possibilities are just beginning to emerge. That, and the reflection of that in the soundtrack, are awesome.
Ultimately, "Licorice Pizza" argues that becoming is a process, not a destination. And who better to tell that story than Paul Thomas Anderson, cinema's most empathetic cartographer of human complexity?
