Licorice Pizza: Edgy drama is the year’s best film – Newnan Times-Herald

Licorice Pizza is an unabashed crowd-pleaser thats just edgy enough to explore complex topics while never giving in to darker impulses.

Review by Jonathan Hickman

Paul Thomas Andersons Licorice Pizza chronicles a strained romance between 25-year-old Alana (played by musician Alana Haim) and 15-year-old Gary (played by Cooper Hoffman, the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman). Its a politically incorrect relationship by modern standards.

But Anderson sets his uncompromising tale in 1973, a time when such pairings werent treated with the same level of moral and legal reckoning. And unlike the re-examining of Cameron Crowes semi-autobiographic Almost Famous, Anderson manages to keep the budding physical aspects of the romantic involvement limited to innocent revelations and devoid of prurient material. That is a very good thing, because Licorice Pizza is a very, very good movie.

We meet teen actor and entrepreneur Gary Valentine as he waits in line for his high-school, year-book photo. Hes a clever young man with goals and the intellectual prowess of someone years older. He notices Alana as she guides him to the photographer. Shes much older than him, but he instantly believes shes his soulmate. Their initial discussion leaves Alana intrigued and impressed, although she struggles to conceal her reactions.

What transpires is a nervy courtship thats never forced. The two are undeniably attracted to one another, but the two keep a safe distance even as Alana assists Gary in his business ventures. Working with his mother, Gary, a successful child actor, has the financial wherewithal to launch commercial projects, including a store that sells waterbeds.

In one of many standout sequences, Gary notices a waterbed for sale at a local shop. Led into the store by a comely woman, who exudes 70s sexuality, Gary is encouraged to lay on the modern advancement in sleeping by a cool-daddy salesman (played by Leonardo DiCaprios father George, in a perfect performance). This experience leads to one of several businesses Gary launches in the movie. And in microcosm, this sequence exemplifies Andersons approach to the groovy and utterly profound coming of age theme.

A series of subplots unfold as Alana explores acting, including hanging out with legendary actor William Jack Holden (played with zeal by Sean Penn) and even encountering a scary Jon Peters (an Oscar-worthy Bradley Cooper). Garys infatuation with Alana is more than just a boyhood crush, as he relentlessly pursues her without actually crossing the line. The tension Anderson generates is impressive, as he keeps these two romantically at a distance while also keeping them together in other situations.

Licorice Pizza is Andersons most accessible film since Boogie Nights. Viewers who may have found his last two movies ponderous and even daunting (see 2017s Phantom Thread) will embrace this one with no reservations. And the nostalgic view of the early 1970s is as romantic as the love story at the films center.

Like Quentin Tarantinos Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, Anderson represents the time with lush visuals and peerless representations. Were immersed in that place and period so skillfully that Andersons movie feels as though it were produced in the 1970s. Its an achievement made all the more worthy by the star-making performances of Hoffman and Haim, who will be recognized for their stellar work.

Look for Licorice Pizza, which was named best film of the year by the Atlanta Film Critics Circle, to receive much awards notice. Its an unabashed crowd-pleaser thats just edgy enough to explore complex topics while never giving in to darker impulses.

And reconciling the provocative age difference, Andersons movie is about the stumbling blocks in maturation, celebrating the painful, heartbreaking process, placing his characters in a classic tale of early adulthood.

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Licorice Pizza: Edgy drama is the year's best film - Newnan Times-Herald