User reviews

Oh Paul Thomas Anderson. Ever since the master your films have been on a slight down tick. The performances are great from all the new comers and the vets. The camera work and cinematography are stellar. Also the score is very good.

But as for the story, this is very poor. It's aimless in its vision and just seems to be random scenes written for the 2 leads to be a part of. The situations they get into are all over the place and there no real feel for how much time is passing from scene to scene. It feels as if the film is a sitcom from the 90s stretched out into a 2 hour film.

I love Paul Thomas Anderson but this is his second worst for me after Inherent Vice. Which isn't to say it's bad. I had a good time watching the film it's just not very memorable and not PTA at his best. I'll be waiting for the next film though without a doubt..

I have mixed feelings about this movie. The central relationship between Alana and Gary is great, and both actors are doing a great job. The scene where they're on the telephone and not saying anything is my favorite scene in the movie. Alana is an interesting character, seeing how impressionable she is, trying out different personas throughout the film. What I didn't like as much was the interludes with the celebrity cameos. I didn't like the part with Sean Penn and Tom Waits at all, and the Bradley Cooper part wasn't my favorite either. It does feel a little too long. Overall, I'd say it's worth seeing but not worth the Best Picture nominee-level acclaim.

This film is a good exercise in placing a story in a past decade. The production design shines with a very successful setting of the 70's. Unfortunately this is almost all that shines.

The script is repetitive and many times it doesn't get anywhere. The grounded and common appearances wanting to stand out are appreciated, but they fail to completely captivate in a totally forgettable story. There are some passages in the story that are funny, but there are others that are flat and boring.

The performances of the protagonists are good and very well supported by the big names that glow by themselves in the brief scenes in which they appear. The technical aspects such as editing and sound meet the standards of the director.

It is a movie I would never see again.

"Licorice Pizza" tells a meandering journey of two young lovebirds. Things happen in the film, but I don't find the events of the plot intriguing or interesting. I honestly was bored by it.

While it's true that Paul Thomas Anderson could direct "Phone Book: The Movie" and it would still end up on my year-end "best of" list, Licorice Pizza conjures up a fascinating relationship between a teenager seemingly wise beyond his years and a twenty-something who just can't seem to figure out how to navigate the real world.

A lot of debate has been stirred up in The Discourse about the appropriateness of the relationship between these two characters. But I feel as though the film is neither the grotesque endorsement of the age gap that its detractors view it as, nor the staunch rebuke of it that some defenders claim it to be. What Licorice Pizza does exceedingly well is give us an utterly compelling pair of characters and allow us to watch as they grow together, apart and together again in a world that expects women to grow up and allows men to stay children forever.

This is quite a throwback this movie! Throwout all the CGI, 4k camera work, super super camera angles, stunts and so on, and we have a very back to basics movie that relies on acting, storyline, direction and character. Watching a film like this in the cinema is quite refreshening and reminds me of what we shouldn't lose about cinema.

The film is the usual arc of growing pains as we watch the "Will they, won't they?" drama of two young people in love but we're on tenterhooks waiting for them to finally hook up. You know they will but the journey is good to watch, but what really makes this film is actually the humour. It's not necessarily a slapstick, but there's lot of humour and jokes which lift the story, and there's a myriad of cameo roles by various actors who for the moment steal the show.

The two central characters are played by Cooper Hoffman (who looks disarmingly so much like his more famous father (RIP)) and Alan Haim who are both newbies, and they're both great. Alan Haim as the female lead is just brilliant in her role and for with all due respect to her lead colleague, she's the one who carries the film the best. We watch them develop and evolve into adults, but unsure about life as we all do when we are young. The dialogue captures perfectly life at that age, and you keep going along with the rid

Only negatives is that as much as that the ensemble for this film are great, one or two cameos for me didn't work out well (e.g. Bradley Cooper) but they don't derail the movie. Also the film did drag on for longer than it should, and in the cinema that does not help. It's not a short movie.

Also I never realised that Americans spelt Liquourice so much differently to us outwith of the US!

In a cinema world that has been swamped with overblown tentpole films, this film helps along with certain other releases to try to pushback against the CGI onslaught. Probably a lost cause, but there will hopefully always be those of us who will enjoy something different. Give a go, a good slice of life.

A total vibe movie that you're either going to enjoy or not depending on how into that vibe you are.

Paul Thomas Anderson's latest is a nostalgic romcom of sorts about a teenager and the much older woman he wants to have a romance with in 1970s California. The film is obviously made by someone with first-hand experience of what it was like to grow up near L. A.'s entertainment industry, and the film, which is more a series of vignettes than a continuous narrative, captures the weirdness, desperation, and sometimes scariness of famous people living in a vacuum.

The film's biggest asset is Alana Haim, playing either a 25 year old or 28 year old (a blink and you'll miss it line throws some doubt on her actual age) who's oppressive Jewish household makes the antics of a child star high schooler (Cooper Hoffman, son of Phillip Seymour) at first a welcome distraction and later leads to an endearing bond between the two. The movie is winsome and enjoyable as long as it focuses on these two and their prickly relationship, but it's derailed by two lengthy segments featuring Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper that aren't as funny as Anderson seems to think they are and flab out the film's running time.

Also, much as I enjoyed the film while watching it, I couldn't shake an extreme feeling of ickiness when I started to think back on it. The age difference between Haim and Cooper is treated as mostly a non-issue within the world of the film, and their romance is served straight up -- we're obviously supposed to be rooting for them to be together. But if this were a movie about a 25 year old man romancing a 15 year old girl, it would play quite differently, and the double standard bothered me. I also felt like the script let Haim down. She's so likable and such a good actress that I was disappointed her character didn't have more growth. She's a young woman who hasn't seen much of the world but starts to thanks to Hoffman, but I wish the movie had been more about her learning that, much as she likes Hoffman as a friend, she's too old for him and has more potential than that of being his girlfriend and sidekick.

So, overall a mixed bag of a movie for me, though I was entertained watching it and would recommend it to others.

Grade: A-

It's wonderfully loose and rambles around in the best way possible. You never know where it's going but you can't wait to find out. The soundtrack is exceptional and both Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman gave an amazing debut.

My wife and I spent an enjoyable evening watching this movie. I am puzzled by all the negativity. We found the film entertaining and fun. It was our first time seeing both lead actors in anything and they were both revelations. Cooper Hoffman nailed it as a confident, entrepreneurial teenager in love with an older woman. Alana Haim is perfect as the 25 year old who is knocked off balance by the teenage Gary Valentine's persistence and chutzpah. The LA setting was great, definitely evocative of the 70s. The "supporting" cast includes Sean Penn, Tom Waits, and a deranged Bradley Cooper. I would suggest you ignore some of these reviews, watch the film, decide for yourself.

The films of Director Paul Thomas Anderson is a bit of an "acquired taste", moviegoers generally fall into one of 2 camps. (1) those that LOVE what he does (and thinks he is one of the greatest Directors of All Time) and (2) those that don't.

I thought I fell into the 2nd camp, but upon reviewing his portfolio of work for this review (HARD EIGHT, BOOGIE NIGHTS, PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE and THERE WILL BE BLOOD), I realized that I pretty much liked whatever he had done, but with his last few films (THE MASTER, INHERENT VICE, THE PHANTOM THREAD) I am finding that "PTA" (as his fans call him) is becoming just a little too "artsy" and pretentious for my tastes. He has fallen too in love with his material - and artistic style - to objectively look at a film and realize that it needs to move along at a brisker pace.

Such is the case with his latest film, LICORICE PIZZA.

A memory of his youth, LICORICE PIZZA follows the relationship of a pair of mismatched young adults as they work their way through the early 1970's in search of themselves and love.

This film is a series of scenes stitched together to tell a story and the problem with it is that it made this film seem disjointed. The central "get together already" love story of the main 2 characters is supposed to be the through-line of the film, but when this through-line breaks (as it often does here) it is detrimental to the flow of the story.

Based, loosely, on the real-life exploits of PTA's friend, Producer Gary Goetzman, LICORICE PIZZA stars Cooper Hoffman (son of Phillip Seymour Hoffman) as Gary Valentine and Alana Haim (of the Sister Act Musical Group HAIM) as Alana as they have an on-again/off-again friendship that SHOULD BE a romance, but isn't (kind of like WHEN HARRY MET SALLY). They circumnavigate circa 1973 Los Angeles running into fictionalized portrayals of famous people like Producer Jon Peters (Bradley Cooper) and Film Actor Jack Holden (Sean Penn) an amalgamation of William Holden and Steve McQueen.

The central performances of Hoffman and Haim are competent enough, but never rises to anything more than that, which pulls this film down for one or the other of them is in every scene . The various actors doing extended cameos (like Cooper and Penn) seem to be having fun chewing up the scenery, but they are acting in a completely different style of film than Hoffman and Haim are and our 2 leads don't stand a chance of standing out compared to these over-the-top performances.

Blame for all of this needs to be laid on Anderson (Oscar Nominated for his Direction in this film). He tried to give us a "slice of life" nostalgia piece like AMERICAN GRAFFITI or ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, but he just doesn't pull it off.

An Oscar Nominee for Best Picture, LICORICE PIZZA seems to be riding the wave of nostalgia both for the times depicted - and the artist who put this film on the screen - but it just isn't that good of a film.

Letter Grade B- (for Cooper's and Penn's scenes in this)

6 stars (out of 10) and you can take this to the Bank(ofMarquis)

My initial impressions, aside from making a lot of hooting and hollering notices and bowing in a Wayne and Garth type of "we're all not worthy" stance at a portrait of PT Anderson, who returns here to the Los Angeles of the 1970s again for a third time with a coming of age story about Alana (Haim) and Gary (Hoffman) and their misadventures and awkward but total connection to each other as friends and more, is that sometimes a film just needs to give me good characters, and this does this and then some.

By this I mean we have people, Alana and Gary in this case, who are immediately deeply felt and lived-in as these young people (though the age range makes that idea of 'young' into its own self-conscious and for Alana even neurotic beast), and the connection that grows between them as friends is that there is sentiment expressed (oh God oh goodness that scene with the two of them on the water-bed as he motions closer to her but then stops as "Let me Roll It" is more emotionally charged than any scene I've seen this year - and there's strong competition) without it being sentimental.

This is hard to do, but what helps is we are "hanging out" with these people but they're wants and desires are being figured out barely as they go along and the world around them is so rich and textured sometimes all they can do is run to keep up with things. They're simply... compelling, fully heartfelt people, but PTA isn't shy about showing their foibles. And around them are more "name" actors like Penn and Cooper and to a lesser extent Safdie and Waits who make immediate and strong impressions and yet also are people you get right away.

Which brings me to another impression.... this is maybe Anderson processing in his way things in the world over the past few years re: #metoo? Of course one can say "but hey the 1970s, you know," but nearly every man who Alana meets - who may be more of the protagonist than Gary, I don't know, it's close maybe co-protagonists - is either a leering/lecherous creep or full of their own anxieties and issues. I've seen one or two things on social media criticizing Anderson about this possible/kinda sorta romance between this teen boy and 25 year old Alana (if she is that or rounding up), but I wonder if they're seeing the same film I did because the film is really more about not even the romance side of it (though romance is laced throughout this) as it is that feeling when you're a teen and you're doing as much as you can to be an adult, but when you become an adult there is that temptation or even desire, usually if around the right group, to want to be young again. If you got to make it in the world, maybe it's better to do it with someone who isn't a (bleep) as a character describes men near the end.

As for the title? I think that's Alana and Gary: they don't go together, and yet they totally do. I loved this film and I look forward to seeing it a couple more times and diving in deeper on this. If by chance you're near a major city playing this before Christmas, run - or steer your Empty-tank vehicle - to the theater to get absorbed in it all. And did I mention it's PTA's funniest since Boogie Nights?

For as much as I watched this it's a '70s movie about two unlikable people who flirt unlikeably and I suppose probably wind up having an unlikable romance. This was nominated for a Best picture Oscar but God knows why except that boring pointless movies often get nominated for awards. I actually don't know anyone who liked this movie but I suppose people did.

What an experience watching "Licorice Pizza" was. In terms of aesthetic qualities like the ability to put the viewer in a setting (in this case 1970s Los Angeles), a wonderful soundtrack, some rollicking fun sequences, and phenomenal cinematography. Truly a technical masterpiece in nearly every sense.

Sadly, "Licorice Pizza" is also not all that great of a film for one very specific reason: it completely and utterly lacks a plot or overall meaning to all the technical expertise.

For a very basic overview, the movie tells the story of Gary (Cooper Hoffman), a high school student with a taste for showbiz, and Alana (Alana Haim), a 25-year-old Jewish "Valley Girl" stuck in neutral but always looking for the next adventure. As the two circle around each other trying to determine their romantic wants/needs, they stumble in and out of any number of period-specific historical events/schemes, such as a fuel shortage, waterbed craze, and pinball machine ban being lifted, to name a few.

Like I said, "Licorice Pizza" is truly remarkable at setting a scene. I felt like I was back in time and nothing ever broke that illusion. I was also extremely impressed by the acting performances from newcomers (at least to the big screen) Hoffman & Haim. They are more than capable of carrying the entire film, which is exactly what they are asked to do here.

But when the credits rolled--and even some time after--I'm struggling to figure out any discernible value or lasting concepts to take from the experience. In a certain sense, the viewing experience (plot-wise) felt like a cipher to which I wasn't given the key. A whole bunch of mini-escapades transpire--all at least somewhat entertaining--and the movie just ends. No more, no less.

I very much liken "Licorice Pizza" to 2019's "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood", though I have to say I liked that Tarentino film a bit more because even it hewed to the plot--not just the spirit--of the current events it was depicting. Here, director Paul Thomas Anderson creates a movie that is almost entirely aesthetic and eschews plot/meaning entirely. As such, it is difficult for me to grade it as "good" or "bad", hence the right-down-the-middle five stars.

I love this movie but can't explain why, left the cinema same way I felt after watching "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood". Don't really know what to say apart from I enjoyed it. Was it the era it's based in, was it the chemistry the characters shared, was it the way it was filmed, the dialogues, or was it the idyll charm Alana and Gary created? I don't know. It felt like the writers just started writing with no actual plot line, let the story flow and develop on it's own, because I can tell you what happened in the movie but don't really know what the movie's about yet it was still perfect the way it was. Felt like just watching life unfold for the characters. It wasn't complicated, at no point do you feel the script was altered to make it more witty, funny or dramatic, everything was just natural. I think more movies like this should be made. I wasn't around in the 70's, but movies like this make it feel like I'm right there with them; nostalgia to a time I never knew. Come to think of it, maybe that's why I do love it.

Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson's paean to the 1970s California teenager fidgets around so much--what with stop-and-start episodes that don't really go anywhere in particular but, instead, "build momentum" as they say--some viewers may start wondering around the one-hour mark what the movie is going to be about. Cooper Hoffman (the son of Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a real find as a 15-year-old go-getter; rushing around on pure youthful adrenaline, he's a sweet kid who hustles himself first before delivering product, parlaying his schemes into reality. Before she knows it, Alana Haim's "older woman", a kids' photographer in her twenties, is meeting this kid for a soda. She's dazzled by his self-assurance but keeps her awe somewhat in check. This seems an unlikely match--what 20-year-old girl hangs around with a teenage boy?--but with Anderson guiding us through their many assorted misadventures, it's easy to buy into this relationship. "Licorice Pizza" is slight, but admirers of Anderson's style will likely be captivated and won't care. Initially, the dialogue between Hoffman and Haim is unreal (she's at his school for Picture Day); however, once Hoffman demonstrates to her that he's a doer--a teenage actor, an entrepreneur, a businessman--she becomes his partner, his driver...but not his girlfriend! It's an amusingly simple movie with complicated emotions running all the way through it. I don't feel Anderson brought the film to a satisfactory close (the editing seems a little lax and the staging is disappointing), but these kids are quite extraordinary to watch and the eclectic supporting cast is full of interesting oddballs. *** from ****

This movie is gorgeous, particularly in 70 MM. The cast is incredible, led by an unbelievable debut by Cooper Hoffman, and one of the best performances of the year from Alana Haim. PTA's best in my eyes.

I'm probably the right age to appreciate the period detail and shaggy dog approach that Paul Thomas Anderson takes in this disheveled 2021 comedy set in 1973. Applying the ideal baby boomer soundtrack, he channels filmmakers like Hal Ashby ("Harold & Maude") and Robert Altman ("Nashville") with a series of meandering offbeat scenes inhabited by a gallery of equally offbeat characters. The focus is on the embattled love story between the characters played winningly by Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, but Anderson's scattershot direction takes the characters all over LA interfacing with unexpected people like a hardened Lucille Ball (Christine Ebersole), a drunken William Holden (Sean Penn), and a psychotic Jon Peters (a wild turn by Bradley Cooper). The movie does run too long, and the Japanese restaurant scenes were a bit too racially smug for me.

Greetings again from the darkness. The only honest way for me to begin is to simply admit that I adore this movie. In fact, I may love it as much as writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson loved making it. The setting is 1970's San Fernando Valley, the area where the director was raised, and it's such a caring tribute and sweet story (while also being exciting and nostalgic) that's it's tempting to stop writing and just encourage everyone to watch it. My only regret is that for those who weren't around during this time period, some of the attention to detail and meticulous filmmaking won't strike the same chord as it will for the rest of us.

Gary Valentine is played by first time actor Cooper Hoffman, who also happens to be the son of the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman (Oscar winner, CAPOTE). The elder Hoffman gave some of his best performances in PT Anderson movies, so it's only fitting that the son explodes onto the scene under his tutelage. The character is loosely based on Gary Goetzman, who was a teenage waterbed entrepreneur, musician, and actor, and who is now a successful film and TV producer. In this story, Gary is a 15 year old actor and hustler - the kind of hustler always looking for the next big thing, whether it be the waterbed craze, or the opening of a pinball parlor. Young Hoffman plays him with an advanced confidence and ever-ready smile that puts people at ease.

On school picture day, Gary strikes up a conversation with photographer assistant Alana Kane (another first time actor, Alana Haim). She's 10 years older than Gary, but is smitten by his confidence and conversation skills. You may find it weird that the two become friends. That's OK, because even Alana thinks it's weird. In fact, they spend most of the movie acting like they aren't attracted to each other. Now you may find the situation off-putting, but I assure you it's handled with grace and care. They make a dynamic duo, with Gary being advanced for his age, while Alana is a bit stunted - or at least, grasping to find herself.

The Gary and Alana story is the heart of the film, yet Anderson injects so many vignettes or additional pieces that there is no time to chill or even think about what we are watching. The brilliance is in the small touches ... but also the outrageous moments, of which none are better than Bradley Cooper's hyped up role as hairdresser-turned-Producer Jon Peters. His couple of scenes with Gary and Alana are some of the funniest I've seen all year. And if that's not enough, we watch in awe as two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn charms Alana as actor Jack Holden (clearly a poke at Oscar winner William Holden) at the Tail o' the Cock restaurant. These scenes are crafted as observations on the 70's, but also clever comedy.

Anderson has packed his cast with recognizable talent. Tom Waits and Christine Ebersole are particularly effective in short scenes, she as real life agent Lucy Doolittle. Actor-director Benny Safdie shows up as local politician Joel Wachs, and Joseph Cross as his "friend". John Michael Higgins has a cringe-inducing and politically incorrect role as the owner of an Asian restaurant, and the number of Hollywood bloodlines represented here is too great to count: Sasha and Destry Allen Spielberg, Tim Conway Jr, George DiCaprio (Leo's dad), and Ray Nicholson (Jack's boy). Maya Rudolph has a scene, Mary Elizabeth Ellis plays Gary's mother, and John C Reilly briefly appears as Herman Munster. On top of all that, Alana Haim's real life sisters and parents play her family. If you aren't familiar, the three Haim sisters make up the well-known band HAIM, and have had videos directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has become Anderson's go-to composer, and his work here dazzles as it maintains the balance between drama and comedy. Beyond Greenwood's score is the complementary soundtrack featuring the perfect selection of period tunes. Of course, given the time period, we get references of Richard Nixon, DEEP THROAT, and gas lines due to gas shortages, but Anderson never lets the down time overtake the fun. Director Anderson has 8 Oscar nominations, but no wins despite such extraordinary work as PHANTOM THREAD (2017), THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007), MAGNOLIA (1999), and others. It's a shame this masterpiece has been released in the same year as THE POWER OF THE DOG, which will likely keep Anderson out of the winner's circle yet again. Should you doubt the high level of this film, you'll likely find yourself thinking this is Gary's story while you are watching; however, once you have time to absorb what you've seen, you'll realize this is Alana's coming-of-age story. This is truly remarkable filmmaking and extraordinary film debuts from Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim.

Opens in theaters on December 24, 2021.

I had great expectations for this film and I have to say that I was disappointed. Although the 70s vibes helped me travel back in time and the direction and photography were great, the plot and the performances were weak. There was no evolution of the characters, their relationship was shallow without a sign of deeper connection. It was a movie that didn't touch me at all. I couldn't relate to any of the protagonists and I wasn't even inspired.

Waiting for a PTA film is like the Olympics except we're always guaranteed a gold medal and Licorice Pizza was no exception. Much like Boogie Nights but instead of the raunchy truth of Boogie Nights we get the innocence of falling in love with all the games we "used to" play as teenagers. Licorice Pizza tells a simple story of boy chases girl but with the telling of a true filmmaker. In addition to the phenomenal list of supporting actors, the soundtrack, the cinematography and the truly one of a kind dialogue is the recipe for perfection and dare I say PTA is the only one left with said recipe. I can't wait to repeat my praise for another PTA film, it's inevitable.

I was curious about the film's title. As it turns out, the film is named after a record store chain called 'Licorice Pizza'. Also, according to director Paul Thomas Anderson, both licorice and pizza resonate with childhood memories, and he liked the sound of that for a coming of age movie.

I have several issues with this highly acclaimed film. Firstly, the characters. The most obvious is having a romance between a 15-year old boy and a 25-year old woman. Not that age gap is an issue in relationships, but because the boy is a minor and the film therefore had a bit of a sour taste in the mouth being a 'love story'.

Also, none of the characters were likable. No, not even the leads Alana and Gary. I mean, was this supposed to be a romantic film? Gary wanted to be with Alana from the moment he saw her, and when he got the chance he suddenly didn't want her anymore. Then, when she didn't want him anymore, he wanted her again. Then not, then he did, then she didn't, then she did... oh whatever!! As for Alana, she threw herself at every man she met! Wow, now there's romance for you (pffff!!!!!)

With so many characters coming and going, I completely lost track of them and the film simply felt like a bunch of short stories gelled together to make one movie. As for Gary, I didn't find this character believable. This guy had so many mood changes that it was hard to summarize him. He is an actor and entrepreneur, and businessman at the age of fifteen...

I also found the film slow moving with not all that much interesting happening - or, at least, nothing that interested me. This is not my kind of movie, and found it a bit boring since the 'love story' was anything but romantic. So, where did I want the movie to go? Honestly, I didn't care because I didn't root for any of the characters. I certainly didn't care for Gary and Alana being a couple, that's for sure!

On a positive note, the performances are very good.