While their ever-evolving relationship provides the framework for the film, “Licorice Pizza” is really about this young woman’s journey of self-discovery: trying out different jobs and clothes, different priorities and personalities, and seeing what fits. So when he meets Alana and is instantly smitten by her, he carries himself with such confidence and addresses her so directly that she can’t help but get drawn into his world. The fact that he’s a longtime child star has a lot to do with his maturity (and the character of Gary is inspired by Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks’ longtime producing partner, who was an actor in his youth). In a way that’s reminiscent of Max Fischer in “ Rushmore,” all the adults Gary encounters take him seriously and treat him as an equal. What makes this amorphous romance make sense is that a) it’s extremely chaste, b) she’s sort of stunted at the film’s start, and c) Anderson wisely establishes early on that Gary has a swagger and intelligence beyond his years. One thing: She’s 25 and he’s 15, and they meet cute at his high school where’s she’s helping the photographers on picture day. In the simplest terms, “Licorice Pizza” finds Haim’s Alana and Hoffman’s Gary running around the Valley, starting various businesses, flirting, pretending they don’t care about each other, and potentially falling for other people to avoid falling for each other. We haven’t even begun discussing the plot, but then again, the plot isn’t really the point. And their actual parents play their parents, all of which pays off beautifully in a hilarious, Friday-night shabbat dinner scene. Adding to the authenticity is the presence of Haim’s sisters, Danielle and Este, playing Alana's sisters. Together, she and Hoffman have a snappy chemistry that’s the stuff of classic screwball comedies, but they both seem totally at home in this ‘70s setting. The youngest of the three sisters who comprise the indie rock band HAIM-they have a long and fruitful relationship of their own with Anderson, who’s directed several of their music videos-she’s got impeccable comic timing and consistently makes inspired choices. She has that “thing”: that radiant, magnetic charisma that makes it impossible to take your eyes off her. Hoffman has a very different look and demeanor from his father-he has an infectious, boyish optimism-but he shares his dad’s intriguing screen presence. Hoffman is the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, whose long and fruitful relationship with Anderson resulted in some of the defining work of his career, ranging from the heartbreaking (“Boogie Nights”) to the terrifying (“ The Master”). “Licorice Pizza” will make superstars of them both, and deservedly so. Once the credits finished rolling, I had no desire to get up from my seat and leave the theater, I was so wrapped up in the film’s cozy, wistful spell.Īnd in Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, both making their feature film debuts, Anderson has given us the most glorious guides. “Licorice Pizza” meanders in the best possible way: You never know where it’s going but you can’t wait to find out where it’ll end up, and when it’s over, you won’t want it to end. It’s also wildly unexpected from one moment to the next as Anderson masterfully navigates tonal shifts from absurd humor to tender romance with a couple of legitimate action sequences thrown in between. Anderson has harnessed all the thrilling, muscular techniques that are his directing trademarks as well as his affection for high drama as a writer and applied them to telling a story that’s surprisingly sweet. (As a kid, I used to go to the one on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Canoga Park, across the street from Topanga Plaza.) He’s taken us on a tour of this area before in a couple of the great, early films that put him on the map (“ Boogie Nights” and “ Magnolia”) but with “Licorice Pizza,” he offers us a gentler view.
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This is the place of my youth, too-I grew up In Woodland Hills, just down the 101 Freeway from where the events of “Licorice Pizza” occur, and I recall fondly the Southern California record store chain that gives the film its title.
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His love is specific and palpable for the Valley, with its suburban sprawl and non-descript strip malls. This is a place Anderson knows well from his own childhood and it’s where he still lives today.