Licorice Pizza review: The sweet taste of teenage love

4 minutes read

Licorice Pizza review, Licorice Pizza release date

Paul Thomas Anderson is without a doubt one of the best contemporary American directors. This year, the artist returned with the movie “Licorice Pizza”, which is closer to “Magnolia” than “There Will Be Blood” and received great ratings overseas. How did it fall out in our eyes? We have a complete Licorice Pizza review below.

Table of Contents

” Licorice Pizza” is the ninth full-length film in the career of Paul Thomas Anderson and returns after a few years’ break since the controversial “Phantom Thread”. Many admirers of proprietary cinema have been waiting for this moment for a long time, because Anderson boasts an extremely strong and diverse library of titles. From the more optimistic “Magnolia”,
The Disadvantages of Hidden “and” Boogie Nights “to the dark, deeply moving films” The Master “and” There Will Be Blood “.

Related:

9 Marvel and DC superhero movies we are waiting for in 2022. Full list

Especially the latter production made the whole world watch the films of the American. In the opinion of many cinema fans, “There Will Be Blood” is one of the most outstanding works of the 1st decade of the 21st century. If you were counting on a repeat of the entertainment, then I must disappoint you. “Licorice Pizza” is a completely different movie, quieter, calmer, less visually wild. The closest in style to Boogie Nights. Of course, this is by no means a disadvantage, but it is still worth emphasizing. If only because some of Anderson’s fans like this part of his work, while others are more eager to reach for much more serious and pessimistic dramas.

Paul Thomas Anderson in “Licorice Pizza” focuses on optimism, hope, but also the sometimes painful realism of the 1970s.

The main characters of the film’s debut today are Gary Valentine and Alana Kane. He is a resourceful and resourceful teenager who has made his first roles in small films and TV shows. She is a photographer’s assistant 10 years older than him. Alana immediately catches the eye of a boy who immediately invites her on a date. The age difference bothers the girl a lot at first, but finally agrees to go out with him. From that moment on, a relationship begins, which lasts for several months, never formalized and constantly moving from friendship to the promise of something more.

Licorice Pizza distinguishes itself from modern Hollywood by the mere fact that two debutants are employed in the main roles. Gary is played by Cooper Hoffman (son of Philip Seymour Hoffman who died tragically), and Kane is played by Alan Haim, the singer of the popular pop trio Haim. More famous actors (such as Bradley Cooper or Sean Penn) can only be found here in episodic roles, because the entire foreground and background are subordinated almost exclusively to teenagers.

Related:

Spanish Romance: We’re reviewing Woody Allen’s new comedy

I have to admit that it is really successful. Haim captures the emotions of his protagonist somewhere between adulthood and the desire to return to childhood with great skill. Hoffman, on the other hand, plays with great verve, but also with depth. At times he resembles his father alive, and then he can be completely different. Observing these similarities and differences will be a great pleasure for fans of Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was after all the greatest actor of his generation. Similar flavors can also be found in the creation of the world of the San Fernando Valley in the summer of 1973. Paul Thomas Anderson, with the help of cleverly hidden references and well-written dialogues, reflects those times almost as vividly as possible. There is a bit of nostalgia to it, but also a lot of welcome naturalness.

Unfortunately, Licorice Pizza suffers from a story shortage. A bit like “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”.

Paul Thomas Anderson and Quentin Tarantino are close friends, so maybe this similarity is not surprising. Both of these productions are so delighted with the return to the past and in many respects a bit simpler times that they give this feeling an advantage over the story being told. Not every plot has to be extremely complex and dramatic. A good movie can tell about anything. The simplicity of Licorice Pizza review combined with the naivety of youthful love, but ultimately into a bit of a banal area. It is only a fragment of someone’s story, beautiful and optimistic, but requiring the viewer to close a blind eye to the obvious question: “What next?”.

Paul Thomas Anderson is not the only outstanding director who has decided in recent weeks to make a similar return to the place and years of his youth. The same step in “It was the hand of God” was taken by Paolo Sorrentino. I must admit that I liked the Italian version a bit more. It has more freshness, more drama, and nevertheless gives us something beyond the classic story of growing up. Licorice Pizza is more like the title licorice pizza. A bit childish, but still an interesting idea to try. You probably won’t come back to it too often, because it’s a thing to taste once. That’s enough.