Licorice Pizza Film Review (No Spoilers)

'Licorice Pizza' Bron Studios and Focus Features

Director, Paul Thomas Anderson (Punch-Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights) brings together one of the most unique casts for one of 2021's most unique films. With first time big screen performances from Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman intertwined with the veteran statures of Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born, American Sniper, American Hustle) and Sean Penn (Mystic River, 21 Grams, Milk), you're immersed into an authentic 1970's story with many homages to modern day circumstances such as love, relationships, priorities, life, and more.

Synopsis:

"'Licorice Pizza' is the story of Alana Kane and Gary Valentine growing up, running around and falling in love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973. Written and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the film tracks the treacherous navigation of first love."

What You See, Feel, and Hear

There's a lot to focus on when you, as the viewer, are immersed into a completely different era than the one you're experiencing. In this case, with an independent (small budget film) energy with the use of camera work, casting choices, and plot details, this may be the most authentic representation of the 70's that we've seen on screen. With larger budget films, there's a difficulty in showcasing the imperfections of an era, and Licorice Pizza did not hesitate on bringing those imperfections to life. Your emotions go through an interesting roller coaster of investment in this film. During the first 45 minutes I couldn't keep me eyes of the screen, I was pulled into this era, this story, these characters, and the subtle curiosity of what was going to happen with each following scene. However, the result didn't match the energy that was building up within the story and because of that my ultimate emotion in the end could be described as "anticlimactic."

The representation of color, wardrobe, pop culture references, and language was beautifully done. This film doesn't provide a false infatuation for the 70's, but rather an accurate representation of the good and bad from a certain era. There was a unique intimacy with the acting performances. Alana Haim, known as pianist, guitarist, and vocalist from the band "Haim" provided an Oscar worthy performance alongside her male counterpart, Cooper Hoffman, son of former actor Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master, Capote, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) who tragically passed away in 2014. With a previous off-screen relationship between the two stemming from Director, Paul Thomas Anderson, Alana and Cooper provided an almost flawless duo performance as the main characters in this story.

The story felt perfect for a runtime of 1 hour 30 minutes, however with a total runtime of 2 hours 13 minutes the story felt dragged out. You start to lose your lust for the story with the introduction of random characters and moments that seem minimal to the direction that the two main characters are heading. You feel as if you're going to see something more, gasp at a new plot development, or even discover more to the current plot, but unfortunately if you had a thought about what might happen 10 minutes into this film, that's exactly what happens.

My Take

I believe this film was created for a couple of reasons. First, this feels like a love letter to nostalgia and a love letter to what love used to feel like before the complexities of technology, social media, and all other modern day infatuations that take up our time. Second, there's a great message embedded within this story as a comparison to what is happening today, and that is the way we portray a "successful" life. You see a 25 year old girl who believes she should be doing more "important" things but can't help but find herself hanging around 15 year old kids. She believes she needs to be working a stable job while her male counterpart is moving with the trends and using his social capabilities to build relationships. He doesn't care about what he's doing for work as long as he's building connections along the way, and that fascinates this 25 year old girl. I enjoyed this film! I believe that the plot was a bit underwhelming and dragged out. I admire the acting performances, the intimate moments, the genuine humor from real-life conversations, and the nostalgic energy. I think this film is 45 minutes shorter or one extra plot development away from being rewatchable.

My Grade: 7.7/10