Licorice Pizza (2021)

By: Mike Ward on Saturday, January 22

R Running Time: 133 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

Licorice Pizza features two of the biggest breakout performances of 2021 in the magnificent debuts of Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman.
A throwback to 1970s Los Angeles, Licorice Pizza sees Paul Thomas Anderson writing and directing some of his funniest and sharpest work to date* (see below).
When this thing works, it feels like it could be the best film of the year, as its wandering, meandering plot and goofy, comedic diversions are captivating and entertaining.

NO

*The reliance on a racially insensitive supporting character for laughs and a questionable decision involving the main characters may lead some to dismiss all of this straightaway.
At 133 minutes, Licorice Pizza feels like a story that could be expanded into something episodic. Anderson keeps adding in subplots and cameos and extra elements throughout, which only makes you wonder if this would feel more cohesive had Anderson devoted more time to develop the reasoning behind such decisions.
In the end, It is hard to establish a point for all of this. Sometimes it can be enough to just enjoy a movie, but the film feels like its constantly looking for more than that and I’m not sure it quite ever gets there.

OUR REVIEW

For nearly two-thirds of Paul Thomas Anderson’s hazy, soft-focus, endearingly scattered Licorice Pizza, he has crafted one of the year’s most entertaining films. Full of manic energy, hilarious moments, and two star-making turns from lead actors Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, this love letter to 1970s Los Angeles hits so many marks that it cannot help but steal your heart and win you over.

With one significant blemish that is impossible to ignore, and the fact that it stays around about 20-25 minutes too long, Licorice Pizza unfortunately misses the mark as one of 2021’s best films. However, it does rank as one of the year’s most entertaining.

And did I mention how awesome Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman are?

Haim, who you may know as a member of sisterly music trio Haim, makes her feature film debut as, well, Alana, a 20-something who is lost and unable to find a path for herself. When she encounters Gary (Hoffman, son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, also in his feature film debut), a 15-year-old go-getter with an entrepreneurial mind, he professes his instant attraction to her as she tries to corral a line of high school students for the school portraits.

Unable to shake Gary’s advances, she agrees to meet him and realizes that he has connections all over the city. She is as confused as she is curious about Gary’s life, and he shares his background of acting gigs, television appearances, and the like. Learning his mom cannot accompany him on an audition in New York City, Alana joins him as a chaperone, only to meet and fall for a cast member older and closer to her age.

Licorice Pizza moves at a fairly quick pace, but Anderson’s writing is largely so crisp and engaging that Haim and Hoffman completely absorb into their characters. There is a daring unpredictability about where the film will take us from scene to scene and moment to moment.

Anderson’s film also calls to mind movies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Rushmore and American Graffiti, yet often holds its own as its own unique creation. Characters drift in and out, but in recreating the vibe and mood of 1970s Los Angeles through the eyes of youth and youthful pursuits, we are taken in by the constant swirling surprises Anderson has embedded within his screenplay.

Cameos are aplenty and Haim and Hoffman are in almost every scene. Gary’s constant hustle is unstoppable and Alana joins him nearly every step of the way, which includes his opening of a waterbed store and gaming arcade. The chemistry and relationship that develops between them amplifies two of the year’s best acting performances and sets the two on a trajectory to future stardom, should they pursue what’s likely available to them.

Anderson shot the film with Michael Bauman, crafting a sunshine-glow and nighttime crispness to the film’s visuals. Andy Jurgensen’s snappy, rhythmic editing not only keeps us engaged, but incorporates a far and wide-ranging song score that underscores time and place. Plus, Bradley Cooper turns in a 6-7 minute cameo appearance that almost, by itself, makes the film worth seeing.

Again, there is so much to love about Licorice Pizza.

However, it overstays its welcome at 133 minutes. As the movie moves into its final act, Alana and Gary diverge a bit and a subplot is introduced where Alana joins the mayoral campaign of upstart politician Joel Wachs (Benny Safdie). Should there be an episodic series made from Licorice Pizza, this type of birdwalk would make more sense. Though Anderson has a statement to make with this storyline, it adds nothing to the overall story and we end up in the same place we were heading without an extra 20 minutes of storytelling. For that matter, a cameo from Sean Penn also takes the movie into unnecessary waters, and leaves one to wonder if he’s here simply because Anderson thought it would be cool to work with him.

But the biggest blight on the film is the pointless and unnecessary gag of a white businessman (John Michael Higgins), who marries Asian women and, in using an offensive Asian accent to talk with them, mocks and belittles them into doing something of benefit for himself or “their business.” Though Anderson has defended the film as being true to the time period, and that casual, off-the-cuff racism was prevalent in the early 1970s, there is simply no need for any of this to exist within the context of the film. Asian communities are rightfully and increasingly upset. And before someone jumps in to defend the film and claim it is being victimized by “wokeness” or an attempt at “cancel culture,” read the takes of any number of Asian film critics and moviegoers who have expressed dismay and frustration over a belittling trope they have endured for decades, playing before them, prominently for laughs.

All of this is unfortunate. For all its messy, youthful indulgences and winning performances and execution, Licorice Pizza is so often a fun romp and a film that will stand up to multiple viewings in the years to come. One may be able to even overlook it’s structural flaws because Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman are so wonderful together.

As we appreciate Anderson’s film emanating from a place of genuine love and appreciation to a city that raised him, the licorice and the pizza would taste even better together if someone would have intervened, altered the recipe a bit, cut out some unnecessary fat, and doubled down on those core ingredients which makes this such a delicious meal to savor and enjoy.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper, Benny Safdie, Skyler Gisondo, John Michael Higgins, Christine Ebersole, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Harriet Samson Harris, Ryan Heffington, Nate Mann, Joseph Cross, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Written by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Release Date: November 26, 2021
MGM/United Artists Releasing

Licorice Pizza features two of the biggest breakout performances of 2021 in the magnificent debuts of Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman.

A throwback to 1970s Los Angeles, Licorice Pizza sees Paul Thomas Anderson writing and directing some of his funniest and sharpest work to date* (see below).

When this thing works, it feels like it could be the best film of the year, as its wandering, meandering plot and goofy, comedic diversions are captivating and entertaining.

*The reliance on a racially insensitive supporting character for laughs and a questionable decision involving the main characters may lead some to dismiss all of this straightaway.

In the end, It is hard to establish a point for all of this. Sometimes it can be enough to just enjoy a movie, but the film feels like its constantly looking for more than that and I’m not sure it quite ever gets there.