Licorice Pizza

 

Score:  C+

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Bradley Cooper

Running time: 133 minutes

Rated R

Long Story Short:  Licorice Pizza is a coming-of-age period drama starring two debuting actors by the popular director Paul Thomas Anderson.  After a glimmer of possibility to start, the movie unfortunately becomes a disaster.  Alana Haim does great work and is the main (almost the only) draw.  Her character and relationship development is cast aside in favor of random, poorly-conceived side tracks, one after another.  Oh, and a host of bad men, from the annoying to the criminal.  Skip.

Gary (Hoffman), a fifteen-year-old child actor, falls in love at first sight with school photographer, Alana (Haim).  Ten years his senior, Alana is exasperated but, feeling listless in her own life, takes some comfort in his attention and the two strike up a friendship.  The bond takes them on a wild ride through 1970s California as Alana and Gary dabble in each other's interests, from acting to business to politics.  Many obstacles are thrown in their path, but Alana and Gary do their best to make it through, individually and together.

Licorice Pizza is not a good movie; it contains a fair number of sparks of good ideas - which, if it had fully pursued a few, could have worked - but instead it's one big mess.  At its core, this is a coming-of-age film - with way too much else going on - that is intended as a "prestige" picture by one of today's most lauded directors, Paul Thomas Anderson.  I'll start with what is worth seeing, since that will be quicker.  Alana Haim, a musician, is very impressive in her acting debut, and, largely thanks to the performance, her character is the most interesting part of the film by far.  A young adult, she has a close-knit family yet little sense of personal direction when the film begins, and you want to see where she'll go.  The relationship with Gary also starts off well, an extended dialogue during the opening scene establishing their characters and odd, age-mismatched dynamic.  There are some interesting period elements, including overall strong production design, a great soundtrack (for classic rock fans), and a direct impact on the story from the oil embargo.  There is also precisely one fun scene, involving the oil embargo and driving on empty.

Sadly, it doesn't take long for the promise of Alana's interesting character and her relationship with Gary to get lost and, by the end, essentially ruined.  The film simply and inexplicably loses interest and focus on those core elements - and not in service of some interesting plot that guides the rest of the movie.  Rather, it turns to a series of spontaneous, illogical and/or poorly explained events that have little connection other than forcing our main characters to tumble around in them like a washing machine until the finale dumps them out, soggy and hard to recognize, in a quick conclusion.  Alana survives these without getting completely lost, but Gary becomes less and less believable as a teenager, and more and more of a jerk (a theme on males I'll return to).  He becomes much more interested in himself - or maybe, the audience just begins to see that more clearly - and Alana simply a trophy for him to "win".  And these bizarre, poorly conceived/executed developments result in a movie that is way too long; ninety minutes would have been plenty.  There are too many utterly pointless scenes, making you feel the drag, yet other important parts get rushed through.

Finally, a theme (intentional?) of the film I found notable is male failure and sin, from standard patriarchy to blatant misogyny.  Maybe I am sensitive to this idea after seeing The Lost Daughter, which had similar themes.  But to me, it sure seemed that poor Alana was surrounded by a terrible collection of males, whether minor or major figures in her life.  It ranges from her peers (or close to it) - not just Gary's narcissism, but another potential boyfriend's thoughtlessness - to leaders, the supposedly genial yet racist owner of a restaurant and, in a significant role, a gay mayoral candidate who uses Alana as a prop potential love interest while tormenting his true lover.  Worst are the star cameos, Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper, whose presence and showy roles are a big part of giving the Prestige Picture appearance.  Both of their characters are sexual predators, or close enough that it makes little difference.  Their roles are also among the most incidental in a film full of them.  The male critique in The Lost Daughter is interesting, thoughtful, and useful; in Licorice Pizza, it's just sickening and too often seems presented as gratuitous entertainment itself.

***

I am flabbergasted by the critical acclaim that Licorice Pizza has received - not to mention its nomination for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay.  The only other film I've seen by Paul Thomas Anderson is There Will Be Blood, which is very good - certainly much, much better than this.  But if this qualifies as one of his best in critics' eyes, I'm not sure I want to see any of his others.  There are clearly elements in the film that had potential; as I wrote, the first part starts off quite well.  It is just so bizarre the direction it takes after that, almost as if in open defiance to what the sensible options could have been.  This is definitely the worst of the Best Picture nominees that I've seen from 2021.  I hope to see a few more, like The Power of the Dog, and get the taste of this one out of my mouth.  Awards season has more to offer - I strongly advise you look elsewhere!

* By http://www.impawards.com/2021/licorice_pizza_ver3.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68829075