Licorice Pizza

Grade: A

The official plot summary of Licorice Pizza describes it as “growing up, running around, and falling in love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.” It is the damnedest movie. The title comes from the name of an old record store chain. It is never said in the film, and is as random as the movie, but somehow, I really like it. The plot darts in some far-off developments and tangents, to the point where it sometimes didn’t feel like we were still in the same movie – but throughout it all, I was thoroughly smitten with its infectious charm and unmistakable sense of place. Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson makes us feel like we’re in that period and location, like he did with Boogie Nights, or like Quentin Tarantino did with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, or like Cameron Crowe did with Almost Famous.

Some huge stars receive prominent billing on the posters and advertisements, but their roles are glorified cameos at most. I’ll get to them in a minute. Our main players here are Alana Kane (played by Alana Haim of the rock band Haim) and Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s son), both making their feature film acting debuts. Their inexperience colors their performances and works in their favor. These are not some jaded, polished child stars. This is a pair of character embodiments that live and breathe with refreshing freshness. Alana Kane in particular consistently has wonderful poise and interesting acting instincts, all of which look natural. It helps that she shares a first name with her character, and her sisters and parents appear in the movie, as her family. Cooper Hoffman’s casting is a poignant and appropriate choice, given that his late father was a veteran of Paul Thomas Anderson’s films (he was in Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, and was nominated for an Oscar for The Master).

Alana is a 25-year-old assistant to school picture photographers. She is working at a high school on picture day when she is noticed and asked out by Gary, a 15-year-old student. She agrees to go to dinner. Gary is a child actor with some film/TV under his belt and a charming persuasive personality. Persuasive enough, apparently, that she has ditched her job to work with him in his entrepreneurial endeavors. All the while, their involvement remains as friends and never really crosses any lines. They might, individually, fall for someone else, and we suspect it’s in order to avoid falling for one another. There is always something platonic and possible bubbling beneath the surface for Gary and Alana.

In the course of Licorice Pizza, Gary starts a business selling waterbeds, and then goes on to run a successful pinball arcade, while Alana does a stint working for a political candidate’s campaign. Sean Penn shows up as a William Holden-type who woos Alana. Tom Waits comes along for the ride. Bradley Cooper appears as Jon Peters, one of Gary’s waterbed customers. Blink and you’ll miss Maya Rudolph as a casting director and John C. Reilly as Fred Gwynne/Herman Munster. John Michael Higgins might rub some viewers the wrong way as a restaurant owner who speaks to his Japanese wives in English but with a big exaggerated Japanese accent.

The makeup is effective, and by that I mean the lack of makeup. Every freckle, mole, zit, and scar is on the big screen in its natural glory, and contributes to Licorice Pizza’s organic feel. The soundtrack boasts strong deep cuts from the discographies of some great American rock artists of the early 70s. The ending is abrupt, but satisfying. Licorice Pizza is a revelation. I often had no idea where it was taking me, but I couldn’t wait to get there.

Grade: A