{"id":380298,"date":"2021-12-13T04:41:34","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T01:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/licorice-pizza-is-a-rambling-engaging-and-inconsistent-hang-out-in-70s-la\/"},"modified":"2021-12-13T04:41:34","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T01:41:34","slug":"licorice-pizza-is-a-rambling-engaging-and-inconsistent-hang-out-in-70s-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/licorice-pizza-is-a-rambling-engaging-and-inconsistent-hang-out-in-70s-la\/","title":{"rendered":"#’Licorice Pizza’ is a Rambling, Engaging, and Inconsistent Hang-Out in ’70s LA"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#’Licorice Pizza’ is a Rambling, Engaging, and Inconsistent Hang-Out in ’70s LA<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

     <span class=\"mx-1\">1970s Los Angeles gets a rose-tinted hang-out film.<\/span>\n<\/p><div id=\"\">\n\n\n\n                <figure class=\"sf-entry-featured-media<\/a> \">\n            <img width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/licorice-pizza.jpg\" class=\"articlethumb wp-post-image\" alt=\"Hoffman and Haim in Licorice Pizza\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/licorice-pizza.jpg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/licorice-pizza-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/>                                    <p>\n                    <span class=\"sf-entry-flag sf-entry-flag-creditline\">MGM<\/span>\n\n                        <\/figure>\n\n    <!-- START BYLINE -->\n    <div class=\"row align-items-center justify-content-center my-4 text-center medium dark-gray\">\n        By\u00a0Rob Hunter\u00a0\u00b7 Published on December 12th, 2021 \n        <\/div>\n    <!-- END BYLINE -->\n\n    <strong><em>Licorice Pizza<\/em><\/strong> is, like oil and water or chocolate and mucous, a pairing that absolutely does not go together. It\u2019s no acquired taste \u2014 it simply lacks anything resembling an appeal. And yet\u2026 there\u2019s always been something to the idea that the unlikeliest of pieces sometimes belong together regardless of the fit. That\u2019s part of the theme<\/a> running through <strong>Paul Thomas Anderson<\/strong>\u2018s latest film, an alternately meandering and engaging tale of young people roaming Los Angeles of the 1970s. When it works it\u2019s a fun, nostalgic journey to the places, people, and memories of our own youth. When it doesn\u2019t, though, it\u2019s something of an indulgent and unlikely drag.\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
Gary (Cooper Hoffman<\/strong>) is a mildly talented opportunist who\u2019s turned a minor success as a child actor into a teenage grift with simultaneous moving parts and balls in the air. The 15-year-old is in line for his school photo when he spots Alana (Alana Haim<\/strong>), the picture company\u2019s makeup\/hair girl, and decides to make his move. He\u2019s confident and friendly, but while the 25-year-old dismisses him almost immediately she ultimately responds to his complementary and cocksure personality. As the weeks \u2014 months? years? the timeframe is entirely unclear here, but it\u2019s probably just a summer \u2014 pass, the pair come together and drift apart, again and again, in some kind of rambling, unrealized romance. Gary starts and abandons numerous schemes and business ideas, Alana toys with bigger thoughts and the world at large, and both move effortlessly through an idealized memory of simpler times.<\/p>\n
If that synopsis sounds as if it\u2019s missing a plot, well, that\u2019s because Licorice Pizza<\/em> really doesn\u2019t have one. That\u2019s not a negative either as great films can stay afloat on atmosphere, themes, and character. Anderson\u2019s latest doesn\u2019t really reach the level of great, but it does manage to stay upright and engaging for the bulk of its 133-minute running time thanks in part to its cast and its tendency to rub shoulders with the idea of 70s Hollywood. It\u2019s at its best as Gary, Alana, and a mass of unnamed kids run wild through LA making cash and making out \u2014 even if, wisely, Gary and Alana never manage the latter.<\/p>\n
Hollywood in the \u201970s is captured through fiction with brief flirtations towards something real, but there\u2019s something of an inconsistency in the choices. Sean Penn<\/strong> plays an actor named Jack Holden who clearly is meant to be William Holden, while John C. Reilly<\/strong> pops in as Fred Gwynne. Christine Ebersole<\/strong> plays a comedic actor named Lucy Doolittle who is obviously Lucille Ball, but Bradley Cooper<\/strong> appears (stupendously) as real-life Hollywood producer Jon Peters. They all manage some smiles, but it\u2019s Cooper who threatens to steal the film with a wildly intense and charismatic turn as the amped-up legend. He\u2019s good enough that you might just wish the film would shift gears and follow him through his date night with Barbara Streisand.<\/p>\n
The focus, though, remains Gary and Alana \u2014 to the point that a much-ballyhooed sequence from the film\u2019s marketing featuring Cooper as Peters in a used car lot was removed from the movie \u2014 and it\u2019s the smart choice for the \u201cstory\u201d Anderson is telling with Licorice Pizza<\/em>. These two kids, one underage and one too old to still be living at home, are equally lost and looking for something more. They think they find it together, something the film never comes close to convincing viewers of (despite the year\u2019s most deflating final line of dialogue), and the film is their on again off again efforts to figure out exactly what it is they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n
Both Hoffman and Haim are newcomers \u2014 he\u2019s Philip Seymour Hoffman\u2019s son, and she\u2019s one-third of musical sister act Haim (her two sisters appear in the film as her sisters) \u2014 and both do good work here. They\u2019re amiable and rough around the edges, far from Hollywood\u2019s usual of polished, conventionally \u201cattractive\u201d leads, and that actually plays beautifully into the \u201970s vibe. They\u2019re alternately sweet and selfish, determined and confused, and their \u201chang-out\u201d becomes something that reminds of your own lazy nights of meandering conversations, unexpected rule-breaking, and fiddling with hearts. There\u2019s an appeal here that most plot-centric movies<\/a> can\u2019t touch, and it\u2019s what makes the beats that don\u2019t work more aggressive in their presence.<\/p>\n
For the record \u2014 and spoiler warning, I guess \u2014 the much-discussed age difference between Gary and Alana is not really an issue as their oddball courtship remains unconsummated throughout. He\u2019s something of a horndog while she craves the idea of someone wanting her, and unlike romantic comedies where you expect a relationship lasts beyond the end credits, theirs feels as if it won\u2019t even last to the Best Boy credit. That\u2019s despite the aforementioned last line of dialogue which leaves viewers suddenly sad for Alana\u2019s prospects and well-being and ends the film on a downer for anyone paying attention.<\/p>\n
Something that does warrant criticism, though, is a beat involving a character named Jerry Frick (John Michael Higgins<\/strong>) who runs a Japanese restaurant with his Japanese wife. They\u2019re side characters, but a conversation with the man sees him devolve into a stereotypical Asian accent for laughs. Licorice Pizza<\/em> is no broad comedy, nor is it a social commentary. It\u2019s designed as a casual hang-out film, and yet, this scene \u2014 so funny to Anderson that he repeats it later in the movie \u2014 grinds that casual nature to an abrupt halt. There\u2019s no further purpose to the character, and the scenes seemingly existent solely for the lols. The film\u2019s very nature as an episodic, shaggy trawl through Los Angeles means it\u2019s going to be a series of peaks and valleys by design, much like LA itself, but that\u2019s hardly a defense of moments both offensive and inconsistent.<\/p>\n
Licorice Pizza<\/em> is a far looser construction than most\/all of Anderson\u2019s previous films, and the result is a film guaranteed to strike viewers in a myriad of ways (even more so than most movies do). Those wanting a tighter, more focused tale will likely be put off by what they find, but if a rambling journey through the city of dreams appeals to you it\u2019s a journey you\u2019ll want to take. Just don\u2019t be surprised if the smile on your face sours at that last goddamn line\u2026<\/p>\n
    Related Topics: Licorice Pizza, Paul Thomas Anderson\n    <!-- AUTHOR BOX -->\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
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\n            Rob Hunter has been writing for Film School Rejects since before you were born, which is weird seeing as he’s so damn young. He’s our Chief Film Critic and Associate Editor and lists ‘Broadcast News<\/a>’ as his favorite film of all time. Feel free to say hi if you see him on Twitter @FakeRobHunter<\/a>.        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“#’Licorice Pizza’ is a Rambling, Engaging, and Inconsistent Hang-Out in ’70s LA” <span class=”mx-1″>1970s Los Angeles gets a rose-tinted hang-out film.<\/span> <\/p><div id=””> <figure class=”sf-entry-featured-media “> <img width=”800″ height=”450″ src=”https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/licorice-pizza.jpg” class=”articlethumb wp-post-image” alt=”Hoffman and Haim in Licorice Pizza” loading=”lazy” srcset=”https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/licorice-pizza.jpg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/licorice-pizza-768×432.jpg 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px”\/> <p> <span class=”sf-entry-flag sf-entry-flag-creditline”>MGM<\/span> <\/figure> <!– START BYLINE…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":380299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/licorice-pizza.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-380298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}