Licorice Pizza Review: A Pure Cinematic Energy The Film By Paul Thomas Anderson

Stars: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Filmyhype Ratings: 4/5 (four star) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

From the very first screenings for the press we talk about Licorice Pizza, of which we offer our preview review, as a “simply perfect” film . It’s hard not to go and see a work by Paul Thomas Anderson without great expectations and a good dose of certainty that you are about to see a film that, at the very least, will not leave you disappointed. And indeed, that’s how it went, to put it mildly. Initially scheduled to be released on February 3, Licorice Pizzait will arrive in Italian cinemas in the first or second week of March. Close to the Oscars awards ceremony. And speaking of Oscar, it is more than legitimate to speculate that Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest effort could receive more than a few nominations. The title of the film refers to a famous Southern California record store chain that was very popular in the 1970s.

We return to the San Fernando Valley, formerly the scene of the action of Boogie Nights , Magnolia and Drunk of love . But even only with respect to these three, Licorice Pizza represents a decisive change of course; especially as regards the representation of love and the bonds between human beings. And back to the seventies. PTA packs an irresistible ballad, a reflection on existence, made up of moments, electrifying and romantic. He fishes with both hands from the basin of memory, from the echoes of stories and anecdotes and creates a film that, in some way, is made of the same substance that memories are made of. The protagonists are the rookies Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, son of PTA fetish actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who passed away in 2014. The cast also includes Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper, Benny Safdie and Skyler Gisondo. If you are curious to find out what to expect from Licorice Pizza, continue reading our review.

Licorice Pizza Review: The Story

Licorice Pizza’s starting point is essential to say the least. An idea that is often and willingly found in many romantic comedies and coming of age stories. But Licorice Pizza is neither the classic rom-com nor the usual coming of age . It has the traits of both genders, but carried out in a way that is anything but conventional. It is rather a reflection on existence, a “diary” on the feelings and bonds between human beings while life simply (s) runs. Gary Valentine is an anomalous 15-year-old with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and an acting career already underway. When he meets Alana, ten years his senior, he has no doubts: that will be the woman who will one day become Mrs. Valentine. A full blown love at first sight and an incipit that recalls, in some ways the premises of Ubriaco d’amore.

Alana and Gary attract, repel, seek, escape and find each other again. Always on the run literally, they embark on every adventure, chasing dreams and ambitions; he with the expert air of a seasoned man, she with an adolescent unconsciousness that should no longer be hers. Between the energy crisis (which is the backdrop to a crucial passage in the film) and the transition from old to new Hollywood, over the course of a summer, while life just happens. The two are tuned to two different frequencies for much of the film. The times of their professed love do not coincide and, once again, they chase each other. Until the end you live their moments, you try to keep up with Alana and Gary, overwhelmed – as spectators – by an equally dazzling love at first sight.

Licorice Pizza Review and Analysis

There is a phrase that Gary addresses to Alana towards the end of the film and which lends itself well to summarizing the entire course of Licorice Pizza. You’re a very powerful feeling: “you are a very powerful feeling”. As mentioned at the beginning of our review, Licorice Pizza is a simply perfect film Neither more nor less. One of those films that one would want to see immediately a second time and maybe a third. Licorice Pizza is a truly powerful feeling, a carousel from which one would not want to get off, a continuous surprise. Paul Thomas Anderson signs his most optimistic film with the right balance between awe and realism. The situations that Alana and Gary live together are incredible and at the same time extremely realistic. Licorice Pizza has a dazzling beginning and a development that captures the dynamics of a mechanism from which one would never want to leave.

Thanks to the tests of two rookie actors who both seem to have decades of careers behind them. Thanks to a unique way of painting the fresco of an era with nostalgia, fascination and vividness. And thanks, again, to an evocative soundtrack whose songs are used as in a splendid juke-box. Just think of the wild ride on the notes of the wonderful Life on Mars? Already revealed in the trailer. PTA packs a story out of any scheme (and yet so within the more codified ones) which at the same time manages to be absurd and credible, romantic and hilarious, nostalgic and adventurous. A story that if we get in tune with the protagonists we are able to make ours in the broadest and least obvious sense of the expression.

We continue in our review of Licorice Pizza focusing on the extraordinary test of the two protagonists, both rookies. PTA has already directed Alana Haim – established musician thanks to the band in which her sisters also play – in several music videos. The part of Alana was sewn around Haim and, after seeing her act, it is easy to understand why. Haim has an extraordinary expressive force, an enthralling energy perfectly in line with the vitality of the whole film. Cooper Hoffman has the same charisma as his father Philip Seymour Hoffman, magnificent fetish actor of PTA, a surprising naturalness and a rare magnetism for a rookie. The chemistry between the two actors is crazy and Anderson enhances it in every frame, with every shot, capturing every glance and the importance of every unspoken.

Also notable are the interpretations of the rest of the cast, from members of the Haim family who play Alana’s family to Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Benny Safdie and Bradley Cooper. Above all Bradley Cooper, irresistible in the role of Jon Peters, eccentric womanizer hairdresser and companion of Barbra Streisand, arrogant coarse and hot headed. Also excellent is the cameo of Sean Penn engaged in the portrayal of the Hollywood legend Jack Holden, who tries to seduce Alana and ends up drowning in her immense ego. Benny Safdie is candidate for mayor Joel Wachs. The storyline with his double life at the center is perhaps the least successful, the one that convinces less.

In Licorice Pizza Paul Thomas Anderson, as well as director, is also screenwriter, director of photography (accredited) and producer. Photography stands out for the warmth it gives to the atmosphere and the vivid colors. From a technical point of view, the editing solutions that somehow mimic the dynamics of the dream, the splendid dissolves, textbook shots full of meaning, also stand out.

Licorice Pizza Review: The Last Words

As we move towards the conclusion of our Licorice Pizza review, it will be clear how with this hour we are faced with yet another great film by Paul Thomas Anderson. A film as joyful as it is moving, as energetic and vital as it is nostalgic. The National Board of Review has already voted it best film of the year, also awarding PTA for best director. The race for the 2022 Oscars has already begun and it is hoped that Licorice Pizza will also get the due recognition at the Academy Awards. “I will not forget you and you will not forget me,” Gary assures Alana in one of the first scenes. For our part, we can assure you with equal certainty that you will carry this film with you for a long time.