“I’m not going to forget you, just like you’re not going to forget me.” Paul Thomas Anderson’s film ‘Licorice Pizza’ is so many things. It’s a coming-of-age story. It’s a love letter to the 1970s San Fernando Valley where the director grew up. It defies the usual tropes of storytelling. It’s quirky, offbeat, sweet and romantic all wrapped into one. ‘Licorice Pizza’ was a Southern California record store chain that gives the movie its title. The key ingredient that makes this film so special is the breakout leads. Cooper Hoffman (son of Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Alana Haim (pop star from the band Haim) are revelations. ‘Licorice Pizza’ is one of those films that is rewatchable and undeniably the best of the year.
The film starts off with one of the most original meet-cutes in recent memory. It is picture day at a high school in the Valley. The photographer’s assistant Alana Kane (Haim) is walking up and down the line with a mirror for the students to fix their hair. She looks bored. It is love at first sight for 15-year-old Gary Valentine (Hoffman). He gets her attention with mature and confident banter. You see, he is a child actor. She is intrigued with his connection to Hollywood. He asks her out on a dinner date to a restaurant called Tail o’ the Cock (a real restaurant). The 25-year-old Alana becomes friends with Gary. We get to follow their crazy adventures together.
This is not conventional storytelling. The tone shifts from coming-of-age, to romance, to comedy in a blink of an eye. Anderson is reminiscing about the Southern California of his childhood. The character Hoffman plays is based on the real life of a Hollywood child actor turned movie producer for Tom Hanks named Gary Goetzman. It is a nostalgic romp through the 70s. Not everything was sweet and innocent during that time period. It was the tail end of the Vietnam War and the film touches on the Oil Crisis of 1973. There is a scene with Gary running down the street with a row of parked cars desperately waiting to fuel up while David Bowie’s “Life on Mars?” blissfully plays in the background.
There are cameo performances from Bradley Cooper and Sean Penn. At first they seem a bit out of context but you have to remember the film takes place just over the hill from Hollywood. Cooper plays Jon Peters, boyfriend to Barbra Streisand. It’s a crazy scene. I won’t spoil it but it has to do with Gary and Alana setting up a waterbed in his home. The chemistry between Hoffman and Haim is reminiscent of a screwball comedy. They flirt with each other and then try to make each other jealous. There is even a scene with a rotary phone that tells us so much about their unique bond. There is an authenticity to their relationship that feels so genuine. There is something refreshing with young love. It is awkward and exciting at the same time. We learn so much about ourselves through those first time romances.
Besides the sensational performances, the cinematography is brilliant. The entire film is shot in 35mm. It makes the scenes look like a daydream. Some of my favorite Paul Thomas Anderson films include ‘Magnolia,’ ‘Boogie Nights’ and ‘There Will Be Blood.’ Now I can add ‘Licorice Pizza’ to the list. This is the first film in a long time where I felt immersed in this world. I wanted to spend more time with the two main characters. They looked like real people and not Hollywood actors. This is the best movie of the year and it affirms Paul Thomas Anderson’s place as one of the greatest directors off all time.
