Coming of age stories can teach us a lot about human behavior and the latest film from Paul Thomas Anderson is no exception. Licorice Pizza takes us to the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s as Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) falls for the older Alana Kane (Alana Haim) at first sight. Gary immediately asks her out and after she reluctantly agrees to meet him, the two embark on a topsy turvy young love affair that finds them searching for themselves as they seek to find and connect with each other.
Many of Anderson’s films have been about exploring human connection and relationships, although most of these connections have been toxic and harmful, focusing more on the potential pitfalls. Whether it’s There Will Be Blood’s Daniel Plainview and his sociopathic greed and ambition leaving him alone and embittered, or the toxic, codependent relationship pattern that Reynolds and Alma settle into in Phantom Thread, we see the negative impact that can arise from ill fated relationships between people. From that vantage point, Licorice Pizza is perhaps the healthiest and most happy ending for characters written by Anderson and an optimistic look at what love can lead to if people realize what’s important when searching for others to invite into your life.
Alana is a young woman who is still looking to find herself and her purpose when we’re first introduced to her in the film. When Gary first asks her out, she’s working as a photographer shooting teenagers in a high school gymnasium at 25 years old. After entertaining Gary’s flirtations and eventually finding herself working as his chaperone during his acting gigs she drifts away from him and toward Lance, played hilariously by Skyler Gisondo who makes the most of his quick appearance in the film, another young actor who’s a little more attractive and mature than Gary. This is the first in a movie length pattern for Alana; constantly tightroping between accepting Gary’s advances and casting him aside while seeking a man that is more stable than the teenager, and herself, are. Alana’s pursuit of Lance, William Holden (Sean Penn), and her flirtation with Councilman Wachs (Benny Safdie) represents her trying to fill her own lack of direction and maturity through a relationship with men who have these things, while her push and pull relationship with Gary represents her connecting with and being attracted to a person who is also searching for direction and purpose in life while simultaneously being repulsed by the part of herself she sees within him. It’s a folly of young love that is depicted perfectly through Anderson’s writing, the performances he gets out of his cast, and assists in allowing the audience to connect with the film and empathize with its characters. Most viewers will have experienced seeking to use romantic partners in filling the holes within themselves or turning away potential lovers because of what they reminded us about ourselves. This makes Licorice Pizza a poignant true to life young love story with the potential to resonate on a personal level with all who see it.
For this reviewer, Paul Thomas Anderson has held the crown as being the best director of actors for years now. For Licorice Pizza, the director chose as its leads two novice actors in Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, although Hoffman comes from great acting stock as the son of late great frequent Anderson collaborator Philip Seymour Hoffman. Despite Haim and Hoffman’s lack of experience, Anderson is able to direct them to quality performances that never harm the film and a believable chemistry that powers the film that hinged upon it. Haim’s turn as a young woman at a crossroads is sympathetic and charming when it needs to be and for a first time actress tasked with carrying large chunks of a major film release, she performs extremely well. Licorice Pizza is filled with multiple cameos and bit parts filled by recognizable names with Bradley Cooper’s comedic performance as the insane egomaniac and womanizer Jon Peters standing out the most. Cooper absolutely steals the show in his minimal screen time and gives the film a lift at the precise moment it needed it.
Licorice Pizza is a sweet ode to young love that pulls the audience in through an intriguing love story between its characters and an empathetic portrayal that not only hearkens back to our youth, but provides lessons applicable well into adulthood about the perils of trying to fill the holes within ourselves with other people. Paul Thomas Anderson continues his gifted direction of actors, coaxing quality performances from inexperienced actors in Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman that answering the call for heavy lifting put out by the film’s script. Its 1970s setting is immersive and fully accurate from the production and costume design through the classic rock soundtrack that operates as a character on its own perfectly complimenting the film. This film is probably Anderson’s most accessible in a long time and maintains the quality that we’ve come to expect from him in the director’s chair.
Image: MGM Studios
