Licorice Pizza: I Can’t Seem to Get It
Licorice Pizza (MGM/Focus, 2021) , Photo from IMDB.com
By R. J. F.
This article originally appeared on Medium.com (1/11/2022). Walking out of the movie theater after watching Licorice Pizza, I felt uneasy. The movie is beautifully crafted, weirdly entertaining, visually enticing, and an all-around interesting ride, but the ending left me saying to my best friend, “That was it?” The movie is written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, who is known for films such as Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and There Will Be Blood, so the audience knows there is going to be a heap of eccentricity, but the abrupt ending kind of threw me. Even though I wasn’t content with the ending, the plot of Licorice Pizza, like the other films listed, is another strange show-stopper from Anderson.
Cooper Hoffman, son of the much adored and much missed Phillip Seymour Hoffman, captivates the audience. From the first lines that he speaks in the movie, one can see that his character has some major swag and game as he plays 15-year-old Gary Valentine, a hopeful child star and general hustler, trying to woo 25-year-old Alana Kane. Alana is played by Alana Haim, of the band Haim. In fact, two of Haim’s sisters play her sisters in the film, and her real life parents play her parents, as well. Seems like it was a real family affair. It’s clear from the get-go that Alana has some kind of attraction to Gary; she can’t stay away from him, while trying to stay away from him. She keeps bringing up their age difference, but the two characters seem to always be on a collision course headed towards each other.
This is a classic Anderson film. Long one-shots where the camera traces the characters as they walk from point A to B, no cutaways to different angles, all the while having the actors spitting out intriguing dialogue. A lot of colorful sets full of interesting things to look at, and completely decked out in the era the film takes place, which is the early 70s. Songs that hit the right chord every time, seemingly matching the vibes of the scenes. Wacky and memorable cameo characters, most notably Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper. It really is a fascinating film with a lot of ins and outs to keep you engaged.
But, here’s the thing that really boggled my mind. Everyone in the movie seems to be rooting for this very illegal and “ick” worthy romance to happen between Gary and Alana. Many of the minor characters in the film seem to be cool with these two becoming a thing despite the 10-year age difference. It was seriously the one thing that I kept thinking about as I watched the movie. A couple of days after I saw it, I was talking with some work friends about this very big aspect of the film, and one of them brought up a good point. If the movie had a will they/won’t they romance between a 25-year-old man and a 15-year old girl, would audiences trash the film and call it immoral? It makes me wonder if, because of the fact that it’s a young woman who is attaching herself to a younger boy, this makes the burgeoning relationship somehow forgivable. Afterwards, when I brought this up with my best friend as we were walking through the parking lot back to my car, she said, “Well, it was the 70s,” as if that was all the explaining that needed to be done.
I don’t know if it was Anderson’s intent to have these types of questions and conversation arise from this movie. If you’re only looking at the surface level of the film, it’s about two strangers that were brought together by a mundane scenario, who embark on some crazy hijinks, are both saddled by jealousy at one point or another, and seemingly end up together in the end. If you dig a little deeper, could it be about attraction and the fact that many of us have very little control over who we’re attracted to? Or maybe it’s about denying that attraction due to societal norms and laws? Or maybe it’s just another wonderfully confusing film from a writer/director that is known for putting out head scratching movies. Whatever it is, it’s thought provoking and bewildering all at the same time.
