Film Review: ‘Licorice Pizza’ Is a Perfect Slice of PTA

There is something special about Paul Thomas Anderson’s films. Look at the worlds he has taken us too and the memorable characters he has crafted. After the immersive experiences of Boogie Nights and Magnolia and even Hard Eight (a personal favorite), we thought we knew him. Then he shifted lanes with Punch Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood, The Master, and Phantom Thread. All could not be more different than the next, a constant evolution, yet they all still possess that PTA DNA running through them. Licorice Pizza is no exception.

The characters in Anderson’s film are rich with humanity, unique, never perfect and often quite familiar. You don’t watch his films, you are dropped into them to live among them. His ability to expertly frame his subjects while setting the perfect mood through lighting and music can be easily overlooked because it is easy to be lost in the worlds he creates. It is not until you pause and step back from the narrative that you can truly appreciate what he is putting on the celluloid.

One of his most accessible films in years, Licorice Pizza is hypnotic, pulling you into a maze that you do not mind getting lost in and may gladly not want to leave. The story is not one that is easy to be concise about because it does shift and turn and leave you a little lost at times until you realize the narrative here is secondary to the mood, setting and characters he has brought to life. We are firmly planted in the 1970s. And while many of us have never been there, PTA’s version of that decade in the San Fernando Valley feel authentic – the colors, the sounds, the lighting, the costumes, the hair. He paints such a vivid picture that you can almost smell it. 

We meet 15-year old Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) a smooth-talking fifteen year old child actor with charm to spare. He is like a shark, always on the move – eyeing his next opportunity. Hoffman is the real life son of the long time PTA collaborator, the now deceased Phillip Seymour Hoffman (it still kills me to type that.) What he has on at the beginning of the film is the girl assisting the school photographer at his high school picture day, Alana (played by musician turned actress Alana Haim) the much older woman who tries to not give Gary the time of day, but is as quickly under his spell as he is hers.

From there we are taken on many adventures with the two as their platonic relationship takes us to places you would never expect as the two hustle their way from one opportunity to the next. Waterbeds, politics, tv show auditions, motorcycles and so much more – pieced together in small vignettes that have an airiness to them like paging through someone’s book of memories than the traditional narrative approach you may expect. It is a little jarring at first and will certainly keep you on your toes, but then it really works to create the meandering feel of the era. Two young adults (while both on the opposite end of that label) running lost and aimlessly to find their next adventure and themselves.

PTA really creates a wormhole to a different era – as mentioned the hair, clothing, sets and even the attitudes of the characters feel right. There’s not much to do besides what you’re doing right there and then, just hang out and enjoy the company of those around you. No cell phones, social media, or other distractions – it feels like an escape. The beauty of the quiet moments to the manic tone of some intense sequences (which I will spoil) do not fit together at all, yet have a certain harmony. PTA has done it before but it never felt so effortless in the way accomplished here. Tension builds in ways that feel natural to the world he creates. There are moments in each that may feel preposterous in other films feel right at home in Gary and Alana’s world.

This is largely the result of the tremendous performances of Haim and Hoffman. Both characters have a lost quality to them – Haim is figuring who she is and is more standoffish while Hoffman acts like he has all the answers (and maybe he does) while also feeling like a master improv artist making it all up as he goes along. He has the maturity and swagger of a much older man combined with the drifting impulsiveness of a kid. The characters are written with whimsy and carefree qualities that become joyous and dreamlike, that is until they run into others who populate their world – characters who often serve as reminders of a reality that is not issue and carefree. 

Neither actor ‘looks the part’ – and that’s the charm. They do not have your classic Hollywood looks so you never see them as acting headshots but as people. Hoffman is often somewhat unkempt, his hair looking a little sweaty and under-washed at times. He even has a chipped tooth which I am dying to know the story behind. We watch Alana’s evolution as a character both in her portrayal’s confidence and appearance – going from a jeans and t-shirt girl to a woman seemingly in charge of her situation, unpretentious while confident. The physical design of these characters is partly what takes us to the land long ago and not so far away – the 70s.  

Some other familiar faces pop up throughout. The biggest of note is Bradley Cooper in a cameo that maximizes the potential of every frame he is on screen. Years ago when he played Will Tippen on the under-appreciated ABC series ALIAS I knew the guy had something special. He keeps on proving me right. Audiences are going to eat up his work in Pizza. Another standout in an almost cameo length role is veteran actress Harriet Samson Harris whose work may warrant a spinoff.

Technically the film impresses on every front, the production design, the editing, the amazing soundtrack (something PTA deserves more credit for nailing time and again), the hair, costumes. Then there’s the cinematography by Michael Bauman and Paul Thomas Anderson which is simply stunning while unassuming using tracking shots and shots across an array of settings that evoke the place and time perfectly. There’s also Jonny Greenwood (who is on quite the role lately with his work on The Power of the Dog and Spencer) who delivers the instrumental title track for the film which is just another delicate and stirring piece.

Some viewers may gripe about the lack of narrative structure, a questionable bit of racial commentary that will certainly be debated and the age difference between the two characters – all of which deserved to be talked about with the latter two possibly being hurdles too big for some to overcome. While I understand the intention, I don’t quite have the answers. In terms of the age difference, it is a big part of Alana’s journey – one that was cringe at first, but always felt more like a dream than anything substantive.

I had a wonderful experience with this film and with each passing minute and chapter I was drawn in more and more. A couple of the “chapters” possibly could have been scaled back, but then again, it may be their existence that makes the others land so perfectly, like adding a little salt to bring out the sweet. With that said, Anderson is at the top of his game with Licorice Pizza. The film has so much to offer it is difficult to cover it all, because everything I bring up has me thinking, ‘Oh yeah, that was great too!’ – which is never a bad thing.  Like recollecting crazy moments of your youth, I have not been able to shake Licorice Pizza from my mind since seeing it. It is a part of the PTA-verse I expect to revisit numerous times.