Licorice Pizza

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper, Benny Safdie, Skyler Gisondo, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, John Michael Higgins, Christine Ebersole, Harriet Sansom Harris, Joseph Cross, Maya Rudolph
Running Time: 134 min.
Rating: R  

★★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

What's always been distinctive about Paul Thomas Anderson films is his ability to make a story that in anyone else's hands would seem slight feel more important, regardless of whether it actually is. The coming-of-age comedy-drama Licorice Pizza is probably the most accessible mainstream picture he's made, which isn't to imply it any way lacks the rebellious spirit found in his most acclaimed work. It's like a less volatile Punch-Drunk Love, with portions that will remind some of Almost Famous, Magnolia and even some Boogie Nights in terms of tone and setting, while strangely sharing little in common with any of them. You could even consider it PTA's answer to Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood in how we're transported to such a semi-autobiographical time and place that clearly means a lot to the filmmaker, populated it with weird details, complex characters and a distinctive style that makes a superficially insignificant tale resonate far deeper.

It's hard not to love this no matter which crazy direction it takes us in because the devil's in the details and there are so many welcome distractions and asides that prove as rewarding as the main plot. That it's anchored by two perfectly cast, astonishingly talented actors making their big screen debuts only enhances the feeling we've been dropped into something special and may as well just enjoy the ride. If the knock against PTA has been that he's a superior director to writer, this film won't serve as the strongest counterargument with its unorthodox narrative structure, but that's splitting hairs considering how few equal him in either department. Containing certain elements that carry widespread appeal, it'll connect most with fans who couldn't wait to see what he had up his sleeve. And it doesn't disappoint. 

It's 1973 in the San Fernando Valley and 15-year-old actor Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) spots 25-year-old photographer's assistant Alan Kane (Alana Haim) at his high school's picture day and immediately falls for her. After he strikes up a flirtatious conversation and invites her to dinner, she kind of shoots him down, while not entirely dismissing the offer. Much to his surprise, she actually shows up and they embark on a friendship Alana insists is completely platonic. But when Gary needs a chaperone to go to New York for a press tour for a comedy film he's appearing in with actress Lucy Doolittle (Christine Ebersole), Alana agrees to accompany him.

When Alana starts dating Gary's castmate Lance (Skyler Gisondo), a jealous Gary focuses on launching a waterbed company, which she soon joins in on as his assistant. Struggling to balance running the business with whatever their relationship has become, Alana tries to get into acting, earning a coveted audition opposite self-absorbed screen legend Jack Holden (Sean Penn). Meanwhile, Gary must deliver a waterbed to psychotic, mercurial film producer Jon Peters (Bradley Cooper). But even amidst this ongoing craziness and their lives moving in seemingly divergent directions, Gary and Alana always seem to circle back to each other. 

Loosely inspired by the life of Anderson's friend, child actor and producer Gary Goetzman, who really did start a waterbed company and pinball arcade and appeared in Yours, Mine and Ours with Lucille Ball, the rest is filled in with various stories and recollections from growing up in the Valley during the early 70's. While the most obvious influence on Anderson would seem to be something along the lines of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the story itself seems almost too offbeat and intimately contained to invite such a broad comparison. It's actually closer in spirit and execution to Richard Linklater's underrated Everybody Wants Some!!, which was set a little later but has a very similar hangout feel that rarely depends on plot.

The script takes many detours, but they're entertaining ones that further the relationship between the two main characters, which is a whole conversation in itself. For all the controversy, it's safe to say that a 25 year-old woman dating a 15 year old boy in a fictional film set in the early 70's probably wouldn't have attracted as much attention and criticism even just five years ago unless the genders were reversed. Viewed in context, there's barely a sexual component to it, the issue's acknowledged, and the relationship itself is so unusually presented throughout, it's easy to forget what we're supposed to be offended by. In other words, you'll probably be too busy laughing with and at their awkwardness to really care. Also, it's 1973, so if you're going to make a film set in that era, accuracy counts, and this plays how it would then, now matter how differently it may look through 2022 glasses.

A similar, though slightly less strong defense can be extended to John Michael Higgins' restaurant owner character, Jerry Frick, who talks in a demeaning Asian accent to his Japanese wives. Is it offensive? Of course, because he is, and that stupidity is pretty much the point of the entire exchange, as we're supposed to notice it because these characters sure won't. And in showing what everyone was once willing to overlook, it becomes a little more culturally accurate and shameful than we were counting on. Of course, all of this is just a reaction to a reaction, as we're too caught up in what's happening with Gary and Alana to worry how about how badly people behaved in the early seventies.

The two leads not only create magic together onscreen, but individually convey a quirkiness and relatability that's just right for whom they're playing. While Cooper Hoffman is the late Philip Seymour Hoffman's son and while there's definitely a physical resemblance, he conveys an entirely different vibe in this role, playing a protagonist that'll remind many of William Miller from Almost Famous if he was infused with the nerdy bravado of Rushmore's Max Fischer. Outgoing and even a little devious in trying to accomplish his goals, he's an old 15 and knows it, as Hoffman's so good at playing this kid whose ambitious bluster hides the fact that he's not quite experienced enough for whatever comes next. He fakes it until he makes it, before faking it some more.  

Like Gary, Alana's an endearing mess spinning in different directions, only lacking the drive and questioning why she's hanging out with him and his teenage friends. As this walking quarter-life crisis, Haim pretty much owns the film and her casting's a masterstroke in the sense that the indie singer looks as if she could have stepped out of a time machine from the 1970's while radiating a natural, effortless charisma that promises a very bright acting future. Blurring the lines even further, Alana Kane's family is played by Haim's real life one, with sisters and HAIM bandmates, Danielle and Este making appearances alongside their parents. Even if Haim did this once and went back to her day job, her work opposite Hoffman would still be hilariously unforgettable, as are the scenes she shares with Sean Penn as this a William Holden-inspired actor who takes an interest in Alana. We're not quite sure what to make of that, until we are, and then the whole thing flies off the rails when Tom Waits enters the picture as an unhinged director indulging his friend's worst and wildest impulses.

An intriguing sub-plot in which Alana works for Los Angeles mayoral candidate Joel Wachs (Benny Safdie) doesn't go where you'd expect, proving to be one of many examples of Anderson fictionalizing historical facts to better fit the picture he's painting. But the real scene stealer is Bradley Cooper, who's take on real-life producer Jon Peters is an amalgamation of every insane, hyper aggressive 70's studio exec with the volume cranked to eleven. Gary and Alana's adventure in delivering his waterbed comprises the film's most electric and hysterical sequence of events, as we hold our breathe waiting for this lunatic to completely snap.

As would be expected for a film titled after an L.A. record store chain, the soundtrack is loaded with era-specific hits and even some obscure but no less inspired musical choices that compliment Jonny Greenwood's score and are perfectly incorporated the narrative. Songs from Todd Rundgren, David Bowie, Donovan, The Doors, Sonny and Cher, Paul McCartney and Wings and others might make it the most musically packed film of PTA's career, nearly doubling as the ultimate "Best of" seventies compilation.  

Anderson's willingness to take the characters on these comedic tangents is what sets this apart from most in its realm. You can practically hear the accusations that the film's about nothing, with the machinations of the plot taking a backseat to a mood and sense of nostalgia that's evoked, even for those who may not have come of age during the specific period. There's just so much to enjoy and take in here, even if viewers may be scratching their heads at all of its delightful eccentricities. Where Licorice Pizza ranks on the PTA scale will vary across the board, but love it or not, the longer this sits the more oddly memorable it becomes, proving in the end to deliver exactly what we came for.